Instant Attraction
by cdaye8184
Summary: Set in 1864. Elena is a girl with no home welcomed into the Salvatore house. Instantly, she becomes attracted to Damon and vice versa. Will lead to love Stefan doesn't want that to happen. Rated Ma for explicit content. Rape; language; smut; dark.
1. New arrival

_Summary:_ Set back in 1864. Elena is a girl with no home welcomed into the Salvatore house. Instantly, she becomes attracted to Damon. Damon becomes instantly attracted to Elena. Will lead to love. Stefan is an obstacle. AU/AH

and this is a new story of mine, my second one actually. I had an idea for the longest while now and I wanted to start it while I still remembered. I hope it goes the way I planned and I hope you enjoy.

**Be sure to check out my other story _history will never repeat itself ever__ again_ if you haven't yet done so_ :)_**_  
><em>That's story's more or less on track with the show, not similar but it is in the sense The Salvatore's are vampires.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.

* * *

><p>Elena Gilbert stepped out of the horse and carriage and slowly walked towards the door of the Salvatore Mansion. It surely was large and exquisite. Her parents had described it perfectly. <em>Her parents.<em> Miranda and Grayson Gilbert. Elena flinched at the thought of her parents as tears forced to rise but she wouldn't allow them to escape. Her parents died three days ago in a fire. Her home was demolished. They had no idea why it burned down, it was left a mystery. That was why she was here. Walking towards the door of Giuseppe Salvatore's home. She had never met them but there he as her parents best friend before Elena was born. They regularly kept in touch but they haven't returned to Mystic Falls since and they weren't going to.

Elena had no family besides her parents. Everybody else was dead or their whereabouts were unknown. Giuseppe was the only one Elena had even though she hadn't met him since she was very young. She remembered he had two sons but she couldn't recall their names. One was a little older and one was her age, perhaps a year older. Their mother, Cecilia had died years ago her parents told her. She died giving birth to the youngest son.

Elena knocked on the door with her luggage next to her anxiously awaiting to meet her new 'family'.

She was greeted by a middle aged man with brown hair and a matching beard. He looked stern but his face revealed a smile to greet her. "Hello Ms. Elena" He reached for her hand shaking it.

"Hello Giuseppe's, it's been so long." Elena smiled flicking the curl of hair out of her eyes with her hand.

"It's been to long my dear. I'm terribly sorry we had to reunite because of such a tragedy. I'm sorry for your loss. Your parents were the best people I have ever known" Elena somberly smiled at him not wanting to discuss the situation anymore. A moment of silence fell between them and Giuseppe cleared his throat.

"Excuse me for my manners. Come on inside, we don't want you out on the porch all night." He retrieved the luggage by Elena's feet and carried them inside for her. The house was just as lovely inside. There was brown flooring with red velvet walls and a large chandelier dangling down from the middle of the hallway. She glanced around scanning for any indication of the two sons. She wanted to meet them. "Your room is upstairs, fourth door to your right. I'll see to it that Stefan carries these up for you."

So that was one of their names. Stefan Salvatore. Such a lovely name. But she was still curious about the other one and meeting both of them. "That sounds delightful. I would love to get acquainted with your sons." She hinted the other one.

"Stefan is the only one you will meet right now. My other son, Damon isn't home at the moment. He's at war but he's actually going to be home later tonight. You'll have the dreadful luck at meeting him then." The father rolled his eyes.

"Why dreadful luck?" Elena questioned.

"Damon and I don't exactly get along lately. He didn't want to go to war but I felt it was his place to be. He's despised me since he left. This is the first time he's been home although he's been on three breaks already. I have no idea where his whereabouts were at the time though" Giuseppe shrugged.

"Oh that's a pity." Elena said losing her train of thought. A young man walked into the room towards her and Giuseppe. Stefan Salvatore gracefully walked towards Elena smiling. He looked rather stunning. He was well dressed in a black evening suit and his hair was a beautiful shade of gold mixed with the perfect shades of brown. She met his eyes and he was already looking at her smiling. He hadn't seen anybody as beautiful as her since Katherine, his ex-girlfriend. They were dating for two years but one day; she just up and left town. She only left Stefan one simple note. _My dearest Stefan. I have always loved you and I always will. I am so sorry for doing this but I need to leave. You would never be able to understand, nobody would. You will never see me again, just please don't forget about me. I love you._

That was six months ago. He hasn't recovered from it yet. She still haunted him everyday. He missed her every second of everyday and when his father said that Elena Gilbert was going to live with them; he was hoping to change that. He wanted his first impression to be perfect so when he was within arms reach of Elena. He went for her hand, lifting it every so carefully and bringing it to his lips. Elena blushed smiling and Elena returned the smile as warmly as he could. "What a pleasure it is to finally meet you Elena, I've heard wonderful things about you."

Elena's cheeks were just returning to normal while she giggled and bowed. "The pleasure's all mine Mr. Salvatore."

"Oh please, call me Stefan." He insisted.

"My apologies, _Stefan._" She corrected joking around a little.

"Well I guess you two have acquainted well." He looked from his son to Elena. "Stefan, ensure that Miss Elena's belongings are carried to her room. Help her settle in." He turned around beginning to walk away but turned around suddenly. "I completely forgot Elena, dinner is at 7. Damon will be home then, you will finally get to meet him."

"That sounds great" Elena said almost too cheerfully and Stefan noticed frowning.

He loved his brother to pieces but he wanted to try to court Elena. Damon wasn't the type to fall for a girl like her anyway. He hasn't even had a girlfriend before. Stefan was rather jealous of his brother though. Damon was good at nearly everything but his father didn't seem to think so. Although Giuseppe favored Stefan, he was still uneasy about his older brother.

"Let's get you settled in, shall we?" Stefan asked. Elena smiled, nodding her head in return. Stefan carried her things to her room and let her unpack by herself. It was however, strange for a man to be inside a women's bedroom if there were not together. Elena began to unpack her things carefully placing the picture of her parents next to her bed. Things were going to be so different. But maybe it could get better. Her parents were always talking about Elena needing to find somebody to marry. She was 19 after all. This could be a good town for her to find somebody to love.

Elena continued to situate her room, examining it to her approval. Everything was in order and it seemed now as if she truly lived there. The ways were a beautiful teal color with matching curtains. The bedspread was a variety of blues and greens incorporated to make the perfect designs. Elena turned towards her closet and sighed. She didn't manage to save much of her clothes. She didn't manage to save much of anything really. All Elena possessed at the moment were her makeup trunk, three dresses and some personal items such as hair brushes. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to ask Giuseppe or his family for money but she knew it would be no problem. They were beyond wealthy. Money was no issue with them, she could tell just from their home.

Elena must have lost track in time because she heard a quiet little knock on her door. It was Stefan.

"Hello Miss Elena. I'm sorry to bother you but father requests your presence to dinner." Elena's eyes widened and she gasped.

"What time is it?" She asked nervously.

"Its ten after 7 but don't worry it's alright. I told him you were unpacking he just wants you to come down and get to know us all a little better. My brother arrived twenty minutes ago, you can meet him too." Stefan said, not exactly excited by the words escaping his lips.

"I am so sorry, I must have got lost in time." Elena admitted.

Stefan shook his head laughing. "Do not worry about it, Elena. Now shall we?" He asked holding out his arm offering to escort her down the stairs toward the dining room.

"We shall" She smiled linking her arm with his as they descended down the stairs. They walked to a part of the house she hadn't yet become familiar with. It was just as lovely as the rest. They entered the dining room and Elena was nervous although she didn't know why. Giuseppe was there smiling at her. And there he was.

She don't know if her jaw dropped or not but they must have noticed her expression change once she seen him. He was beyond gorgeous. His hair was a raven black that fell straight. His eyes were so blue they felt as deep as the ocean and Elena became consumed in them. She could not look away from him and for some reason he could not look away from her.

She was stunning. The most beautiful women he had ever laid his eyes on to be perfectly honest. Her big brown doe eyes were staring into his soul. Her chocolate brown hair fell in curly locks behind her and her dress looked unbelievable on her. She was wearing a red dress with a lace over drape that fit perfectly in all the right places. Damon quietly cussed at himself. Where were his manners? He shouldn't be thinking about her like that, he hadn't even met her yet. He knew there was something between them already and he knew she could feel it too because she hadn't took her eyes off him since she seated. He smirked causing her heart to melt. "Hello, I'm Damon. It's a pleasure to meet you Miss…" He trailed off. How could his father have forgotten to tell him her name? Oh wait, he hasn't spoken to his father since he arrived. That was another reason why he was glad she and Stefan walked in. Things were getting really awkward between the son and daughter.

"Elena. You can just call me Elena" She greeted warmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you Damon" The way she said his name caused his heart to skip a beat. He needed to get to know her. She needed to get to know him.

Elena giggled shaking her head. "You've got that all wrong Damon. The pleasure is all mine."

* * *

><p><strong>Please review :) <strong>


	2. The wrong one

_ "Elena. You can just call me Elena" She greeted warmly. "It's a pleasure to meet you Elena" The way he said her name caused her heart to skip a beat. He needed to get to know her. She needed to get to know him. _

_ Elena giggled shaking her head. "You've got that all wrong Damon. The pleasure is all mine."_

He simply smiled but thought to himself _Oh Ms. Gilbert, some how I doubt that._

Dinner was successful. Damon and his father half reconciled. Damon and Stefan told Elena of their past, both of them swinging her flirtatious stares every now and then. She only noticed the ones from Damon. She couldn't figure out what it was about him. He was so mysterious but yet he was so gentle, sweet, calm and polite. There wasn't a bad trait neither about him nor about Stefan; if she actually cared to notice.

Stefan failed to notice Elena's absentness towards him. He was mesmerized by everything about her. The way she looked, the way she described her family and friends.

Even if he had only known her a couple hours he'd picked up so much. She was selfless, caring, and so sweet. He wouldn't be able to rest until he got her. He had to. Everything about her was so perfect and there was no way that he could see her with anybody but himself. Giuseppe spoke knocking Stefan out of his daydream.

"So Elena" He said between bites. "I'm sure you're soon going to be looking for a companion. There are many eligible bachelors' here in Mystic Falls."

Elena blushed slightly. "I suppose you could say that. Mother and father wanted me to marry soon. They thought it would be best for me and for the company. He needed somebody to inherit the business when father became old. That will never happen now…" Elena led on trying not to think of her parents. They owned the wealthiest business in all of Fells Church. Her father was always working; she hardly spent much time with him over the years. He had always wanted a son-in-law to take over in ten or fifteen years. He needed somebody he could rely on and he was expecting Elena to find that someone for him. Elena had no idea what would happen to the company. He was a co-owner with his good friend, Bill Forbes. They started, and ran the company together. In her fathers will it had said she was entitled to his entire share if he happened to die. The paper work that needed to be processed would take a while and Elena wasn't sure how long that would be. She needed money; she was in a different town with a different family. She couldn't expect anything from then although she desperately needed somebody to bring her shopping for more belongings. She would have to pay them back when she received her money.

Elena completely ignored the sentence she said seconds ago and decided to ask about shopping. "Giuseppe, I know that I am in no position to ask but I was wondering if I could borrow some money until things are figured out with the company. I've basically left with the clothes on my back and I really need some dresses, toiletries and other things." She looked down ashamed of asking.

"Nonsense my child, it would be a pleasure. And borrow? Foolish. You will not need to pay us back; think of it as a welcoming gift." He shot her a reassuring smile.

"Oh no sir, I couldn't possibly-"He words were cut short by the man's persuasion.

"Yes you can, and you will. One of my boys would be delighted to travel with you and show you around town. Won't you boys?" He raised his eyebrows turning to his father.

They both nodded a little too fast. "Very well" Giuseppe said. "Stefan, take Elena wherever she wants to go tomorrow morning." Stefan once again; nodded.

_Pity_ Elena thought to herself. _I really wanted to get to know Damon a bit better. _She gave Stefan a bittersweet smile trying to seem excited. She glanced over at Damon who didn't look impressed. There was no longer any sign of happiness on his face. His stare was blank aiming from his father, to Stefan and finally to Elena. When their eyes met; his face relaxed a little and filled with sadness. He really wanted to get to know her. _Damn it, this would have been the perfect opportunity. _He sighed. _She seems disappointed that Stefan is taking her. _His expression relaxed a little more as hope welled through him. _She is nothing like any other girls. She can't possibly be dumb enough to fall for him. _Damon loved his brother and he always had. But he had watched Stefan date and practically dance in his face. Damon hadn't found love yet. He wasn't like Stefan. Stefan needed a women, he needed to feel complete. Damon just wanted to find his soul-mate. He wanted to be with somebody who he actually got to know and took on dates to fancy restaurants. If it were Elena, he would start by taking her shopping. He would help her choose the prettiest dresses and give his advice when she tried them on. This would be their first step to bonding. Next he would play it cool for a couple days just getting to know her. Taking her for walks around the mansion, teaching her to horseback ride. _But I'm not going to be too forward._ He thought, reassuring himself. He would wait until the spent a little bit of time together. She would get to know him a little more and she would get to know Stefan. She would chose for herself which one she would take a liking to. He would wait. He was rather upset thought that his father had asked Stefan before either one of them even considering to offer. He became angry again thinking about it standing up excusing himself calmly. "Well everyone, dinner has been lovely. But I'm going to dismiss myself. I have unpacking to do and it's been a really long day. Father, Stefan, Elena" He nodded towards each of them holding his gaze with Elena a little longer than he should have before finally walking away.

The three finished their dinner in silence and when it was time to leave; Stefan offered to escort Elena to her room for the night. "That would be lovely" Elena smiled linking her arm with his for the second time that evening.

When they arrived outside their door Elena was just about to say goodnight when Stefan spoke. "What time would you like to leave tomorrow?

"However early is good for you Mr. Salvatore." Elena purred once again forgetting his commands regarding his name.

"What have I told you? Please, call me Stefan. I want to be on first name basis with you." He smiled taking a step toward her.

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to calling people by their first name. It will take some getting used to." He nodded assuring her it was alright.

"Anytime is good for me, how about eight?"

"That sounds perfect." Elena opened the door to her bedroom. "Goodnight Stefan."

Before she could get inside Stefan leaned in kissing her on the cheek causing a rosy color to surface instantly. "Goodnight Elena" He turned on his heels, walking away while whistling a cheerful tune.

Elena prepared herself for bed, quicker than usual. She combed out her hair, brushed her teeth and changed into her night gown before grabbing her journal and snuggling into bed.

_March 27__th__ 1864_

_I met the Salvatore family today. There are so friendly. Giuseppe welcomed me into his home with open arms with no questions asked. He's offered to allow me some money to buy clothes and necessities tomorrow. Stefan has agreed to take me although I was kind of hoping that it would have been Damon._

_ Those brothers are so fascinating. Stefan seems nice. He is beautiful and everything about him seems perfect but he's almost too forward. I can tell he wants to get to know me a little better than just friends and perhaps he's what I need but I'm curious about Damon._

_ The older, raven-haired, war veteran who seems so mysterious. He looks at me like I'm the most beautiful girl he has ever seen and he's given me butterflies on several occasions this evening although I just met him at dinner. There is something about him that I want to find out. I need to find an excuse that can allow me alone time with him._

_ Mystic falls seems like a great place. It's beautiful and the scenery is divine. Giuseppe talks about finding me a husband. I know the time is coming near but I'm not sure if I'm ready yet. I have no idea what to expect from love and I know nobody. The only people I know here are the Salvatore brothers. Would it be strange for me to fall in love with one of them? Which one would it possibly be? Stefan seems like the better choice but something is drawing me to Damon. _

_ Anyway I mustn't ramble anymore. Talking about marriage is foolishness. I have no idea who they are yet; let alone to be courted by them. I will see what happens when the time comes and only then; will I worry. _

_ -Elena. _

Elena placed her journal in the nightstand beside her bed before quickly drifting into a sleep slumber. Her dreams with filled with Damon and Stefan.

_Quite some time must have passed. The three had aged at least five years. Elena was sat down in the parlor with the brother's on either side of her. Damon was kissing her neck and Stefan was kissing her lips. _

_ "Is it foolish of me to want you both?" Elena purred into Stefan's lips._

_ "No not a all" Damon whispered. "If this is my only way of having you then so be it." He began to kiss his way up her neck again._

_ Stefan drew away from Elena's lips for a moment. "I'm actually going to have to agree with my brother on this one. You were too good to surrender from. I'm willing to share you as long as I can have you whenever I want." He hungrily placed his lips on her again causing Elena to smirk beneath his lips before pulling away._

_ "I wouldn't have it any other way. I have the both of you whenever I want" The evil smirk crossed her lips again before the brothers began to caress her. _

Elena's eyes shot open being revealed to the sunlight that shone through the window. Her breathing was heavy and she completely forgot where she was for a moment before remembering the dream-no the nightmare she had just endured. What had she just dreamed about? She was with both brothers and she was enjoying it. Well, there was no way that could possibly come true. Elena would never commit such mischief. _Why Am I having inappropriate dreams about them?_ She questioned herself. _I hardly know them. _

She glanced at the clock realized she had about a half hour to get ready and it usually took longer. She jumped out of bed and into her makeup stand getting ready as quickly as she could. Elena decided to leave her hair down today. The curls from yesterday were still fully intact and looked even better than before she slept on them. She applied a little blush and some mascara before getting changed. She changed into the only dress that was left clean, a simply ivory gown with a matching bow to place in her hair. The moment she finished getting ready she heard a simple knock on the door. It must be Stefan, he was so polite.

She was wrong. She opened the door to be faced with those beautiful cerulean blue eyes that she had instantly loved. "Damon?" She questioned tilting her head to one side.

"I know you must have been expecting my brother. He should be coming any moment, I just wanted to say good morning and I hope you have a lovely day shopping" He smiled revealing his pearly white perfect teeth. He was too perfect.

"Good morning to you as well" She curtsied. "And I shall try to have a good day. I hope to see you later." She said although it more sounded like a question.

"Oh that will be for certain Elena. I look forward to seeing you."


	3. The start

__Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews and the alerts/favorites/etc. I am so thankful this story is getting positive feedback, I wasn't sure about it but as I write chapters, I begin to think of great ideas for it in the future. Thanks for reading and I hope you like this chapter just as much.

xoxo courtney.

* * *

><p><em>I hope to see you later." She said although it more sounded like a question.<em>

_ "Oh that will be for certain Elena. I look forward to seeing you."_

* * *

><p>Elena's day actually wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. She and Stefan made their way to town by horse and carriage. Stefan showed her around, introduced her to some of his friends that they happened to meet. He took her out to lunch at the nicest restaurant in town followed with shopping. Elena found the most beautiful dresses. They were all made by a woman named Lexi who owned the store. Elena bought seven dresses in total and she actually felt bad because it wasn't the only thing she had bought. She had also purchased half a dozen nightgowns, bathing necessities, and some beauty supplies. She felt horrible about it but Stefan insisted it was fine and Giuseppe had already made it quite clear earlier that it was no trouble whatsoever. Elena thanked Stefan for the wonderful day as they made their way home. Stefan had been so nice to her all day. He told her stories about his family and she had told him the same. They had gotten to know each over the day and Elena come to realize he was truly a charming young man. He had treated her so nice, she hadn't spent time with a boy like that before only her long lost friend Matt, whose whereabouts were unknown. There was nothing between them, their parents just knew each other before they up and moved away without saying a word.<p>

Elena hadn't thought about Matt in forever, she tried not to. She had grown so close to him; he knew everything about her and then he just left. He never wrote, nor visited. Elena chose to forget about him.

Stefan had once again kissed her on the cheek before allowing her to go to her room. That's been the second time in less than a day that Stefan had kissed her and although she should have felt uncomfortable; she didn't. He was such a gentleman and any girl would be stupid not to like him. Elena was attracted to him in a sense, but not the kind of attraction where she wanted it to pursue into a relationship. She just thought of him as a beautiful, polite and charming man who was nice enough to take her shopping today. She saw him more of a brotherly figure than anything else.

As Elena finished putting the last of her new wardrobe away; she started to become overheated. She was after all; in that tight dress all day. She began to fumble with the strings of the corset; managing to untie them and finally loosen her dress up. It was difficult tending to her dress herself. Usually her mother always did it for her but there were no other women in this house. Not that she had seen anyway. Elena finally had the dress undone completely when she heard a knock on the door.

"You can open the door" She called completely forgetting what she had done just seconds before.

"Good evening Elena. How was your d-"Damon's cheerful greeting and quickly halted as he laid his eyes upon the women in front of him. Her dress was completely undone nearly revealing her breasts. Damon's breath hitched in his throat and he turned his head away as quickly as he could. "Elena. I'm so sorry."

Elena eyes fluttered open realizing she had let him in while she was partially nude. He hands quickly flew to her chest holding the dress up with one hand and trying to tie the corset back up with the other. It was no use, that task was barely managing with two hands let alone one. "Don't be. I feel so embarrassed." She was glad he was turned away. Her cheeks turned from ivory to rose pink within seconds. "I hate to put you in an uncomfortable position; but I was aiming to get out of this stuffy dress but seeing you are here I will wait. Would you mind tying me up? Mother always did this for me and I have a rather hard time trying to do it myself." She chuckled quietly.

Damon still did not turn to face her. "Yeah, s-sure." He stuttered. He had never been in a female's room before in his life; making this even more uncomfortable as he made his way up behind her grabbing the strings of her dress, tying them as gently as he could; trying not to hurt her. He had suddenly imagined what she looked like underneath that dress. _Damon_ He warned himself. Why did he keep thinking awful thoughts about her? He had never thought of women like that before. Really, he had never thought about any female before.

He tried his best to stay away from love. He knew if he truly opened up to somebody that he would eventually get hurt and that was Damon Salvatore's biggest insecurity. He had watched his brother fall in love with Katherine and only to be heart broken a couple years later and he was still not fully recovered. While they were together; Stefan went to Damon about all their arguments which made Damon realize he didn't want that yet. They fought over the silliest things that didn't even matter. Damon swore to himself that he would not even bother getting to know women unless he thought she would be the one. He didn't know if that would be Elena, but hell; something going on in his brain sure thought so or at least wanted to. He had usually been able to control the urges of fantasizing about women but he had slipped twice since he had met Elena; even if only for a moment. Damon Salvatore never did that. He never let his guard down.

"Well" He patted her back. "All done. Thanks to me" She turned around to face him only to be greeted by the smirk she had seen once before. She smiled from ear to ear. He was too cute. She leaned in toward him giving in a little peck on the cheek.

"Thank you Damon. And again, I am terribly sorry about earlier. I don't know where my mind was." She shifted uncomfortably away from him, fumbling with the seam of her dress trying to concentrate on something else.

"It's no big deal, really. It can be our little secret." He winked. He slipped once again. _Damn it, Damon. Pull yourself together. _

Elena blushed. "Okay. I don't strip and tell" She tried to ease the mood, playfully winking back.

Damon intended on changing the subject. For some reason he was at constant battle with himself when he was around this girl. Trying not to think dirty thoughts about her or show flirtatious remarks like he had just done. It would certainly arouse him if he thought it about it anymore and he wouldn't know where to put himself if Elena noticed. "How was your morning with Stefan?" He swallowed louder than normal.

Elena was kind of glad of the subject change as well. She still felt uneasy about Damon seeing her like that. But a part of her liked the way he tied her dress, moving his fingers ever so gently along her back barely touching her skin but when he did; he managed to send shivers down her entire spine. She hoped he hadn't noticed, that would be even more embarrassing.

"It was good" She truthfully told. She did enjoy her day with Stefan although deep down she wished it was Damon that took her shopping and showed her around. "He showed me the entire town, took me to a dress store and took me to other various places. We had a lovely time." She smiled remembering the day.

Damon forced a smile toward her trying not to seem disappointed that she had enjoyed herself. "I'm glad you had a good time. Perhaps I could take you someday soon?"

"I would like that very much." She blushed causing hope to rise in Damon again.

"I'm glad. Would you like to take a walk in the garden with me? I could show you around this place. I'm sure there are lots you haven't seen." He emphasized the lots because he knew just how big their home was. There was the garden which was massive. Around the back was an open field filled with flowers. His mother had made it perfect while she was alive. He could take her to the falls on the other side of the field. He had to take her to the stables. She seemed like she would like animals.

"I would love to" She chimed.

Damon had begun his tour by taking her to the large meadow. It went on for nearly a mile either way and it was mainly lush, green grass except for the few trees and flowers scattered here and there. Elena admired the beauty of the place, never seeing anything quite like it before. It was so big and so well kept. It looked like a place you would encounter out in the wild; not in somebody's backyard. They slowly walked through it, learning interesting facts about one another as time went by. A nice distance away from the boarding house, Elena and Damon approached a very large tree. It was the biggest tree Elena had ever seen in her life and it was beautiful. All of the leaves were just starting to grow back preparing itself for the upcoming summer. Elena and Damon decided to take a little pause and sat down next to the tree, leaning their backs against it.

"Thank you for showing me around Damon, you are too thoughtful." Her gratitude was clearly showing all over her face.

"It's no trouble, really." He insisted before adding. "Plus, I want to get you know you Elena, you seem like a wonderful person." He looked down quickly trying not to make eye contact with her.

Elena digested what he had said and smiled. "You seem like a wonderful person as well, Damon. I would love to get to know you better too. I'm sure we will be great friends." She added silently causing him to look up once again.

"Do you want to leave? I have somewhere else in mind that I want you to see." He stood up followed by Elena doing the same.

"Sure."

He was going to take her to the falls. Nobody knew it even existed except for him. He had found it one day nearly fifteen years ago when he was just about seven. He had been wondering around, exploring because he was finally old enough to venture on his own. Ever since he hadn't told anybody about it but he felt Elena should have the chance to see it. It was something he wanted to share with her.

When they were nearly there; Elena was becoming quite confused. He was leading her toward the very opposite end of the meadow in comparison to the mansion and there was nothing in sight besides a few weeping willow trees just up ahead. She didn't bother asking because Damon seemed lost in thought. When the approached the trees, Elena realized how thick the branches and leaves were. You could not see through them and then Elena began to wonder. Damon stepped in front of Elena, dividing the branches with his hands and stepping inside telling Elena to follow him.

Behind the weeping willow was the most beautiful scenery Elena had ever laid her eyes on. There was a little pond that was surrounded by a large waterfall that swooped around the cliff of the pond in a crescent shaped way. There were rocks laying next to the waterfall that was shaped something like lounge chairs. The place was perfect. The shine was blazing high in the sky making it very warm.

"This place is unbelievable Damon!" Elena exclaimed.

"I'm glad you like it." He replied. "You're the first person to know about it beside me. I found it when I was young and didn't bother sharing it with father or Stefan. It's a pretty special place to me and you're a special girl so I figured I'd share it with you. It's where I come to be alone, or when I need to think. It's so peaceful here." He looked at Elena smiling before returning his eyes back to the pond. "The water is so warm" He bent down tracing his fingers along the water, skimming it. "Come and feel it" He motioned her forward.

She walked over beside him kneeling down to feel the warmth of the water. "Wow it feels just like bathing water!" She hadn't felt outside water to be so warm before.

"It's a great place to go for a swim." Damon added before standing up. Elena did as well.

"Could we swim here sometime? I would really like to." Elena faced Damon puckering her lips in a joking matter causing Damon to laugh at how cute she looked.

He began to lean forward. He caught himself by lifting his hand and tapping her nose before backing away. "We certainly can. Anything for you." She jumped in joy.

Elena had a great idea. She could tell there were going to head back toward the mansion anyway and she was in the playful mood. She bent over taking off her shoes and holding them in her hands letting her feet and toes bury themselves in the soft grass. "Damon. I bet you can't catch me" She giggled taking off as fast as her lean legs could carry her. She didn't even hear his response but she glanced behind her noticing he too was running as fast as he could. She had a head start on him so he would not be able to catch her for a while but she knew he eventually would; he was a man.

She seemed to be running forever and she was just half way there. She was starting to lose her breath but she continued to run not wanting Damon to catch her. She glanced back and was nearly caught up to her, only about ten feet behind her. She shrieked in laughter and tried to run forward but he had caught up to her. He lunged forward with his arms wide open closing them around her waist when he finally got her. They fell down due to force along with the speed at which they were running. They both just lay there, completely unaware that his arms were still around here. They were too out of breath to notice and just laughed with each other trying to regain as much oxygen as possible.

"What on earth is going on here?" A familiar voice called startling them. Elena rolled off Damon as fast as she could and jumped up. Damon sprang to his feet at the sight of his brother embarrassed at how it must have looked. He hadn't noticed the way him and Elena were laying on the grass nor must have she. It was inappropriate to act in such a way but it felt so right with Elena that he didn't even realize he was committing such things. Elena felt the same way. How unladylike she was. Lying on top of a man in an open field where anybody could see her. Why didn't she realize the stupidity of her actions? It didn't feel wrong at the time, she didn't see any harm in it but the more she thought about it; the more embarrassed she become.

"Stefan" Elena greatly cheerily smoothing out her dress trying her best to look normal. "Brother" Damon also greeted.

"I don't think you heard me the first time" His features became stern and cold. "What the hell is going on here?"

* * *

><p><strong>Please review :) <strong>


	4. The dark side of jealously

**Thanks for all my new reviewers, alerters, and people who have favorited this story and me as an author. And also, a big thanks to my silent readers, you guys are just as important. **

__This chapter got a little darker than I had intended but it's necessary to develop the characters of this story so I hope you aren't upset with me. There will be happier chapters to come, I promise.

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.**

* * *

><p><em>It didn't feel wrong at the time, she didn't see any harm in it but the more she thought about it; the more embarrassed she become. <em>

_ "Stefan" Elena greatly cheerily. "Brother" Damon also greeted._

_ "I don't think you heard me the first time" His features became stern and cold. "What the hell is going on here?"_

* * *

><p>"Excuse me?" Elena was shocked due to how Stefan was reacting. They hadn't done anything wrong. Sure they had gotten a little too close, but why is it any of Stefan's concern?<p>

"You heard me" Stefan said grabbing Elena's arm pulling her away from Damon.

"Stefan" Elena resisted against him but he was too strong. "Let go of me Stefan, you're hurting me". But he refused to listen to her.

Damon had enough. He pried Stefan's hand off Elena's arm and pushed him away from her. "Brother what on earth has gotten into you?" Damon was confused. Stefan had never acted in such ways before. His behavior was always the best.

"You are what have gotten into me, _brother._" He mimicked Damon.

Damon's brows went together. "I don't understand."

"No?" Stefan laughed. "Well you're pretty naïve brother. I made it very clear to you that I wanted to spend time with Elena. You said that I should be the brother she would grow to like".

"You're twisting around my words, Stefan." He briefly glanced at Elena who was just as confused as him. "I told you we would both spend equal amounts of time with her. Neither of us would get any more time than the other until we feel the need to. Besides, I don't see what all the commotion is about. Miss Elena and I were just having fun." His shoulders raised and lowered as he didn't know what else to say.

"Well you shouldn't be having so much _fun._" He turned to Elena and his features returned to normal. They were no longer full of anger. "Would you like me you escort you to your room my dearest Elena?"

She shook her head. "I'm fine Stefan… Damon and I are going to go for a walk." She glanced to Damon signaling him to go along with her lies.

"Very well" Stefan hissed before turning around. "Father is out of town for the night Damon. He'll be back in the morning." With that, he trudged back into the Salvatore Mansion.

Damon reached out to grab Elena's arm. "Please forgive my brother's behaviour. I do not know what has got him so angry with us."

Nor did Elena. Earlier that morning, Stefan was as sweet as could be. Even the night before when they first met he had been nothing but a pure gentleman but now she was beginning to reconsider. "No, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have run off."

"Nonsense Elena, we were just having fun. We did nothing wrong. He just witnessed us at the wrong time and he made assumptions." But Damon knew the real truth. Stefan never fancied being the second option and when Elena showed the slightest bit of interest in Damon, he snapped. Stefan was so used to getting what he wanted and whenever he wanted it that he did not need to fight for what he wanted. That wasn't the case with Elena Gilbert. Damon would be damned if Stefan would win her love.

Elena knew she shouldn't but she felt guilty about the way Stefan reacted. It wasn't mature of her to act in such ways with a man she was not romantically involved with; but it felt right. When their bodies were against one another; it felt perfectly okay. Her body was meant to lay on his. Elena shook away the thoughts. She hardly knew Damon; she could not start developing such feelings toward him already, could she?

"I suppose you are right." She forced a smile as her thoughts of him slipped away. "Perhaps its best if we wait a couple days before spending time together again" She suggested.

"No." He didn't want this. He wanted to spend more time with her. "Elena, forget him."

"I'm going to. There is no Stefan in the picture anymore after what just happened. I don't want to deal with somebody like that. I will act nice to him but I am not spending time with him anymore and I just think we should wait a little while, until he calms down."

Damon took a step toward Elena cupping her face in his hands. "Please don't. I like you, Elena and I want to get to know you better." Her heart skipped a beat at his words. There was no way she could stay away from him for any more than a couple hours, not with such a strong attraction between them.

His eyes searched hers waiting for any type of answer she was going to give him. "I like you too" She whispered.

"How about we go swimming after dinner, right before sunset? Father isn't home so nobody would know. We could make Stefan believe that we are in our rooms."

She thought about the idea, it was indeed tempting. Swimming with Damon near dusk seemed so romantic and yet rebellious because this time; they were actually going to do something shameful. This was not permitted, especially being unsupervised but Elena did not care. There was something about Damon that made her want to take the risk. "Yes." She simply said, leaning in giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I would love to. I'll meet you at the tree near dusk" She turned around and walked away before Damon could notice the color that appeared on her cheeks right after she kissed his. He reached up touching his cheek where she had just kissed him moments ago. It had given him a feeling he had yet to experience.

* * *

><p>Elena spent the rest of the evening getting ready for her swim with Damon. It was unnecessary due to the circumstances but she bathed anyway getting as fresh as possible.<p>

She didn't spend much time applying makeup or doing her hair because it would be ruined within seconds in the water anyway. She had simply applied a tiny bit of blush with a nude shade of lipstick to match. She didn't bother to curl her hair; she simply let it dry straight and just brushed it before finishing.

She had no idea what to wear for swimming so she decided on wearing undergarment. She thought about the consequences when Damon seen her but she hoped he would like it more than he would not. She settled on wearing a lace camisole with matching drawers, the nicest ones she possessed. Elena moved in front of the mirror to examine herself before putting on her dress. She looked rather seductive and she was debating whether or not she should wear it. But she wanted Damon's attention more than she already had it so she decided against herself and kept it on. She quickly put on the most casual and easy to tie dress that she owned. She had just finished tying it up with success when she heard a quiet knock on the door.

Confused, Elena headed to the door. Why would Damon come for her when he knew how risky it was that Stefan could see them? They had agreed they would meet by the large tree halfway in the field.

To Elena's surprise it wasn't Damon, but Stefan instead.

"Good evening Elena." He smiled.

"Same to you Stefan." She returned the smile half annoyed by his presence.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" He asked her stepping into her room.

Becoming slightly uneasy, Elena shook her head. "No, it's late. I'm just staying in my room for the night. I was going to try and sleep a bit earlier than usual, I haven't been getting much lately." She quickly lied.

Stefan cocked an eyebrow. "Oh is that so?" Before she could answer he spoke again. "Well why are you freshly dressed and look as if you are ready to go somewhere?"

"I don't know what you are talking about Stefan. I told you. I am not going anywhere this evening."

He closed her bedroom door behind him before grabbing hold of both of Elena's arms. "I don't believe you, Elena. If I wasn't mistaken, I would say you're expecting to meet my brother tonight." He spat on Elena with his words.

"No. I haven't spoken to him since earlier."

"You're lying." His eyes grew dark and cold.

"No" Elena whispered, tears filling her eyes as fear flowed through her veins.

"Yes you are. And I hate liars." He threw her on her bed before leaping on top of her, pinning her down with his hands. "I'll make an exception for you because I could never hate you. You are I are meant to be together, I can feel it. You can too." He closed the distance between them forcing his lips on hers. She struggled trying to get away or scream but he was far too strong. She bit his lip giving him no choice but to stop.

"I can't feel a thing between us." She hissed back at him, allowing the caring Elena to leave. "I was wrong about you, Stefan. You're a monster."

"You're lying to yourself. I can prove it, and I will." He slapped her in the face as hard as he could which caused her head to go back into the pillow with the force. "You think I'm a monster? You haven't seen anything yet. I'm going to have you before my brother does." Before she could say anything he tore a shred of cloth from her dress and stuffed it in her mouth forcing her to remain silent.

He began to rip her clothes off one by one. He struggled with the corset at first before realizing he had to untie it.

He had her dress literally ripped right off of her body quicker than she had put it on. Elena desperately struggled to free herself but it was no use. She begged Stefan over and over to stop. She searched his eyes for humanity but found only a cold expression filled with lust and raw emotion.

The minutes that passed seemed like hours. Hours of pure hell. Stefan was way too strong for Elena. She tired herself out trying to do something; anything that could get him off of her. Elena was completely naked from her head to her toe as Stefan finished taking off his pants as quickly as he could. She pushed and she kicked and she scratched at him barely doing any damage. She managed to claw the side of his face but was rewarded with a powerful blow to the jaw stunning her long enough for Stefan to accomplish the thing he wanted most.

Elena was unable to move. She was no longer struggling and this was Stefan's queue to invade her. Stefan had been aroused ever since he had pranced on top of Elena, she could feel him against her skin. He wasn't gentle with her. He thrust into her as hard as he could while grabbing hold of the headboard in front of him. Elena cried in pain but her actual cry was barely audible. Elena was a virgin; she was waiting until marriage to become whole with somebody. It was what was right and now it was taken away from her forcefully. Stefan went in and out of her faster and faster moaning and panting her name. She was disgusted, completely sickened by the monster on top of her and there was nothing she could do so she just gave up and silently cried in pain taking all of what came to her.

Time slowly ticked away and finally he spoke. His voice was hoarse. "Don't worry. I'm not going to let go inside of you. I never want children." As if that relaxed her any. She honestly did not care. He had violated her, took away her rights. Tears fell more freely as the thoughts wondered around her mind. Stefan finally took himself out of her and finished with a long sigh all over her torn dress.

He got up and began to put his clothes back on not daring to take his eyes off the bleeding girl who he had just destroyed. He buttoned his shirt and fixed his tie before heading out of her room. "Thanks for tonight Elena, it was fun." And he walked out closing the door quietly behind him.

* * *

><p>Elena did not leave her bed. She did not bother getting dressed nor did she stop crying. She felt terrified. She was living with this monster, under the same room as him. What if she couldn't be protected? He would surely try to rape her again. Elena was not religious but she had virtues and she swore to herself that she would not have sex until marriage. She would wait until love; it's what her parents would have wanted and now that was ruined. Her virginity was taken away from her and every time she blinked; Stefan's cold face on top of her was staring right away never letting her forget what had just happened.<p>

Elena had finally calmed down. She had grown tired after crying for perhaps an hour or close to it. She still hadn't moved but she was drifting to sleep. She looked peaceful but evidence she had been crying were visible on her cheeks and her swollen eyes. Stefan's physical damage was noticeable. Her lips were swollen, her eyes were blackened, her face was bruised and her soft sheets were stained with blood. There was a scatter bruise amongst her fragile body that was covered by her position.

There was another quiet knock on the door that Elena hadn't heard. It was Damon. He called her name but there was no response so he decided to open the door. He had been waiting nearly a half hour for her by the tree. He decided to come looking for her because he had become worried after she didn't show up. He slowly turned the knob of the door pushing it open quietly and slowly before noticing the still figure on the bed.

He noticed she was not presentable and gasped about to turn and leave but a bruise on her hip caught his eye.

"Elena" He called softly. There was no answer and she didn't even stir. She was facing away from him so he could not see her face.

"Elena" He called again fear filling his voice as he moved toward her slowly but there was still no response.

He hovered over her body covering her up with a sheet before noticing the blood. His eyes widened as he look toward her lower back; seeing more of the blood stained sheets along with her torn dress. He inspected every part of her not worrying that she was naked anymore. He wasn't looking at anything inappropriate; he was simply trying to figure out what had happened. Her face was beaten badly with the piece of cloth from her dress still in her mouth. He could see her body lift up and down assuring him that she was still alive. He couldn't take it anymore; he had to wake her up.

He shook her slightly making sure he did not hurt her. "Elena" His voice was filled with concern and fear. "Elena, please wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open and quickly widened. She pushed and kicked Damon trying to get him away.

"Elena! It's Damon. You're okay, it's Damon!" He cooed. She stopped kicking him and just glared into his eyes searching for any sign of hope. He sat along side of her placing her head in his lap gently smoothing down her hair. "Elena you need to tell me what happened."

Her eyes glistened as she continued to stare at him. "Stefan" She whispered.

* * *

><p><strong>Review :) <strong>


	5. Realization

I am going to start off by saying how sorry I am for such a delay. In most of your review replies I falsely told you it would have been up days ago; and it would have but I had this chapter wrote and it took a completely darker route that I wasn't ready to write. I didn't want to put Elena though any more pain right now and it would have changed the story completely so I rewrote over half of this chapter today. Please forgive me:)

I'd like to thank everybody who silent read, reviewed, alerted, and favoured and even favourite authored me. I can't tell you how **happy **I truly am for this story to receive such a great success. I have decided, and I got this idea from MadameAnnabeth to award the 100th reviewer with the opportunity to choose a scene or a prompt they want incorporated into my story when the time comes. I was the 100th reviewer for her story 'The Petrova Sister's'. It's a great story, be sure to check it out because I requested a future epic Delena meet :)

Enough with the ranting now.. Just read. This chapter is more positive, hope it was worth the wait and hope the little bit of romance satisfies you on this special day.

_Happy Valentines day to all you DELENA fans out there3 _

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries.**

* * *

><p><em>He sat along side of her placing her head in his lap gently smoothing down her hair. "Elena you need to tell me what happened."<em>

_Her eyes glistened as she continued to stare at him. "Stefan" She whispered._

* * *

><p>She had told him everything that had happened; leaving out what memories she chose not to go in detail with. Damon cradled her as she cried and told him the horrible story. Emotions Damon hadn't known exist rose inside of him. He felt hate. So much animosity towards his own fresh and blood. He had known that Stefan wasn't as innocent as he portrayed but words would not even be able to describe Damon's feelings toward him. He took every ounce of power in Damon's body not to jump off Elena's bed and murder his brother. He would make Stefan suffer like he made her suffer. But Damon was a wise young man, he thought before he committed actions. He knew that this would cause his father to disown him, Elena to become afraid of him and his chances of getting what he wanted; never to happen and he wanted her. He wanted her more than he ever wanted anything more in his life so his anger stayed within; trying to get out as he desperately tried to control it whilst comforting the beautiful disaster in his arms.<p>

He had to at least ask her if she wanted Stefan to suffer any type of punishment; be it minor or major; he would be more than happy to do it. "Elena. You know, we can do something about this. We can tell father. He wouldn't believe me but there's no reason why you would lie to him."

She sniffed trying to prevent her nose from running. "No Damon. He won't believe me; he has barely become acquainted with me. What if he does not believe you? The two of you are not very close at the moment. He will surely tell Stefan and who knows what he would do next. I do not wish to involve Giuseppe into such a mess right now. If any matters get worst, or if Stefan should try anything else; we will go to your father." Her bottom lip began to quiver. Damon crossed any boundary they had between them by pressing his lips against hers. He was planning on showing her how he felt about her later but she needed somebody to care right now. She needed to know that he would go against any odd to look out for her and protect her now.

The kiss was beyond describable. They had no idea that such passion and desire could arise from it. Elena felt a flutter in the pit of her tummy the moment his lips touched hers followed by a tingling within her lips. She had never kissed anybody before; but surely she did not know that this is what it would be like. It was like what she had read in her favorite romance novels. The chemistry was there and sparks were lit off instantly. Damon felt an automatic pull toward the girl in his arms. It seemed as if gravity itself had shifted. A feeling Damon couldn't yet explain seeped to the surface of his heart, forcing him to return to reality before it ended know that he had indeed let the angel-like girl in his arms know how he felt.

"It will be alright" He looked into her eyes reassuring her. "I won't let Stefan hurt you again." His features becoming serious and stern and he spoke the last few words forcing her to truly believe him. And she did. Elena normally didn't take to strangers but Damon Salvatore was no stranger to her. She felt like she already knew him; in a weird sort of way. Something told her she needed to get to know him; she needed to know everything there was to know about this mysterious raven haired gorgeous man that had her at hello. She nodded still completely mesmerized by the kiss they had just shared.

Damon pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration as his mind wondered to Stefan's words earlier. _Father is out of town for the night Damon. He'll be back in the morning._ "Elena, I just remembered. Father is gone until morning leaving nobody in this house but the three of us." He bit his lip trying to figure out what to do.

Elena grabbed his hand surprising him. "Can you stay the night with me?" Her huge chocolate eyes melting into his causing him to flinch but then smirk.

"You know I'm not permitted in your bed, Miss." He laughed.

"Nobody will know. Plus, I need you here with me tonight" She demanded, no sign of humor; just fear. "Please" She added. There was no way he could resist even if he wanted to.

"I know. It just feels weird to be in a lady's room sat on her bed, much less going to be spending the night in it." He winked trying to make her laugh. "I feel rebellious." Smiling a true genuine smile he added. "Of course I will stay with you. I would never have it any other way."

Their position from being sat down to lying down quickly changed after Elena remembered to put on a night gown. She could tell just how awkward Damon now felt with her body just beneath the sheets with nothing to cover it. She wanted to hide the bruises, most of them. She wasn't self-conscious around Damon per se, but she did not want her marks to be exposed. Elena walked back to bed slowly and climbed under the covers getting comfortable, waiting for Damon to do the same.

Once Elena was positioned the way she wanted to be and did on purpose, Damon uneasily got under the covers with her trying to figure out how he should go about doing this. She had turned against him, her body curved for his but would she want him to hold her? Probably, she was still shaking so Damon decided for it and snuggled in close to her; wrapping his arms around her as gently as he could. Little did he know that that was exactly what she had wanted. She wanted this strong man's arms around her, reassuring her she was safe for the night. She couldn't help but have developed feelings for him over the past couple days. He had done nothing but be one hundred percent kind and caring toward her. Her mind told her it was too early to fall for him, but her heart told her otherwise. Elena let out a little sigh and a few moments after; her breathing relaxed and deepened, signaling to Damon that she was asleep. He smiled at the young women in his arms, closed his eyes and drifted off into one of the best sleeps he had ever had.

* * *

><p>Ever since that night, that horrible night that Stefan had hurt her; she could not forget the kiss she and Damon had shared. She replayed the moment over and over again in her mind; never getting tired of it. The more she thought about Damon the more she cared for him. Since that night, they had spent countless hours together. From morning to night he would take her on all sorts of adventures to get her mind off the incident and focus on cheering up again. He took her to the stables where his horse, Mezzanote, Stefan's horse, Crepuscolo and the child of the two horse that Damon called Elena's, Alba stayed. Elena hadn't ridden a horse before so Damon had started her off riding with him. He then eventually let her take the reigns on Mezzanote which she had gotten the hang of quickly. She would get the horse to gallop through the fields perfectly and Damon finally let her ride Alba by herself. Alba was a smaller horse compared to her parents; she was white with a red patch on her back; the most beautiful of the three no doubt. Mezzanotte was also a stunning horse. She was completely jet black, her mane silky. Stefan's horse, Elena had only seen a few times but it was a beautiful horse nonetheless. She was a mixture of browns and red's looking more of one color than the other at times.<p>

It had taken Elena two days to learn to ride; and they had been riding everyday since.

After a week had passed; Elena was back to her normal self. Her bruises were mostly gone. It wasn't hard to keep from Giuseppe. She covered them with powder and would not dare to interact too closely with the father. Damon felt it was finally time to ask her about the falls again. He truly desired to go swimming with her.

Whilst they were walking through the garden, Damon took the silence as an opportunity to ask. "Elena, are you busy tonight?"

"No, why?" She questioned.

"I've been thinking about how we were supposed to the falls but we never got the chance to…" He trailed off looking down suddenly becoming shy. "I was wondering, if you would like to give that a try again?" He forced a smile.

Elena agreed by simply nodding her head. There was no reason why she could object. After all; she wanted to have a swim with Damon. They were continuing to get closer and ever since that first kiss; she wanted an opportunity to surprise him in return with one. The swim at the falls would be a perfect time.

His eyes and face lit up, glowing. "Splendid!" He exclaimed. "I've got a few things I need to do before this evening so I should go. But I will meet you at the tree at half past eight, okay?"

"Okay" She smiled leaning to give him a kiss on the cheek. She had suddenly become brave. It had been the first time they had contacted since the kiss, besides holding hands every now and again.

* * *

><p>Elena prepared getting ready the same way she had a week ago. It was once again; unnecessary due to the circumstances but she bathed anyway getting as fresh as possible.<p>

She didn't apply any makeup this time besides applying a little bit of her favorite nude-colored lipstick. Again, she didn't bother doing anything to her hair. It dried on its own and Elena simply brushed it out before dressing into her matching camisole and drawer set and covering up with a simple dress.

This time Elena wasted no time leaving the mansion. She opened the door as quietly as she could, peering to the left and right of the hallway before rushing down the stairs and out the back door as quickly and quietly as possible. She happily ran toward the meadow until she reached their tree; where Damon was already standing.

He was wearing something more simple than usual. A pair of suspenders with a grey button up shirt. His hair was shaggy from the wind and he had a five o'clock shadow making him look so mature and sexy.

Feeling happy, Damon decided to flirt. "Like what you see?" He rose his eyebrows shaking side to side at Elena causing her to giggle.

"Oh stop it." She blushed.

"I'm making you blush aren't I?" He grabbed her cheeks squeezing them a little she pulled away laughing.

Their walk to the falls took no time whatsoever. Once they got there, it was a little awkward. Neither of them knew how to go about undressing in front of each other so Damon began by removing his suspenders and shirt revealing his swim trunks. Elena followed his motions by slipping off her dress revealing her swimwear; Damon taking a second to glance at her slender figure before averting his eyes knowing it was still wrong for now.

They walked into the water, hand-in-hand not bothering to adjust. It was bath temperature almost and they had managed to walk out to their neck without trouble before diving under wetting the rest of their body. They flirted with one another, Elena pushing Damon underneath giggling away. Damon would resurface with water in his mouth, and spit it at Elena releasing her into a fit of laughter. She would try to move away from him but the water slowed down her movement; making it easy for him to catch up to her. When he caught up to her, he threw his arms around her waist while she was back on and pulled her toward him embracing her into a deep hug which she noticed as the perfect chance to return her affection.

She slowly turned around, watching the water ripple on all sides of them; leaned in and kissed him with the same amount of passion he had kissed her with. It had surprised him to say the least; he had not been expecting her to do that but she did. The kiss quickly deepened as Elena opened her mouth giving Damon permission to enter with his. Their novice tongues danced around each other's in a rhythm pattern dancing to the beat of their own hearts. It was here and now they both realized what they were getting themselves into. They were head over heels for each other since they had first met; hating every moment they spent apart and loving and cherishing every moment that was spent together. It was safe to say the feelings they had for each other kept growing and growing and somewhere over the course of the week; it had developed into love, yes love. There was no other word to describe it but neither would say it yet; wanting to wait for the right moment. The feelings shared between them were strong. They even understood each other without saying words. Elena would give Damon a certain look and he would understand what it meant and vice versa. They both know each other well enough to say they had known each other for a year or more; not a week.

Smiles seeped through the crack of their kiss at this new realization; at this newly discovered love.

* * *

><p><em>The names of the horse's are actually Itatlian names and Mezzanotte was the name in Stefan's diaries. Mezzanotte means midnight, Crepuscolo means dusk and Aldo means dawn. <em>

_**Review! :) **  
><em>


	6. It wasn't that simple

__:O I am still in awe but how successful last chapter was. It really makes me more than happy to know you all enjoy this story. I love when you review, alert, and favourite me and my story. When my phone buzzes with a new notification from you guys, I swear I grin from ear to ear.

I hope last chapter was happy enough for you guys because this one was back to being dark. I will** warn** you, this story is starting to get more and more graphic. I'm just advising you all so nobody can say I didn't tell you so.

I ramble to much, have I said that yet? ;p Well here's chapter 6 of _Instant Attraction._ Enjoy :)

* * *

><p><em>It was here and now they both realized what they were getting themselves into. They were head over heels for each other since they had first met; hating every moment they spent apart and loving and cherishing every moment that was spent together. It was safe to say the feelings they had for each other kept growing and growing and somewhere over the course of the week; it had developed into love, yes love. There was no other word to describe it but neither would say it yet; wanting to wait for the right moment. The feelings shared between them were strong. They even understood each other without saying words. Elena would give Damon a certain look and he would understand what it meant and vice versa. They both know each other well enough to say they had known each other for a year or more; not a week. <em>

_ Smiles seeped through the crack of their kiss at this new realization; at this newly discovered love._

* * *

><p>The two drifted off to sleep with smiles failing to leave their faces that night. They hadn't been this happy in their lives and it seemed as if things were finally fixing themselves, piecing back together one by one.<p>

The energy of the kiss must have alerted Elena because it took her what seemed like hours before she could get to sleep. She lay on her bed, motionless, restless; desperately trying for her body to calm down but failed after numerous attempts. His face, his hands, and his lips kept making their way back inside her thoughts, making her more alert. She would think back to that kiss, that explosion of total peace and serenity which overwhelmed them both. The true meaning of life, the love, and the utter wonder on both of there faces, hoping the night would never end. Knowing that for both of them, this was only the beginning to prove their newly found melancholy love, so strong, so deep, and yet so sad to never want to let go, to the meaning of life.

It would send shivers down Elena's spine. She never thought she could be attracted to somebody in such a short amount of time due to the circumstances. She had lost her home, her family; her whole former life but it all changed so quickly. She had no idea what she was getting herself into that evening she arrived at the Salvatore's front door; when Giuseppe, the man with a heart of gold welcomed her into his loving family's home, or so she thought. The only loving people in that household were Mr. Salvatore and Damon. Stefan had fooled her pretty good at the beginning but she had quickly learned his true colors. He went too far, attempting to claim her for himself, throwing himself on him, violating every belief she held on to. It was that moment when he did that; she thought she should die. It had crossed her mind because she thought she would have stayed scared and would not be able to repair. Sure she still had nightmares about the youngest brother but the elder one was helping her hope; proving to her that she could get past what happened; that she had all the reason in the world to keep moving forward and live life as best as she could. It was that moment when they kissed she realized this, the action that gave her hope. Love was worth living for and there were no other words to describe what she was feeling except for that simple little four letter word. That little word that held all the meaning in the world, the word that had the power to dominate or to break a person to the point of no return. Elena had no doubt she loved Damon. There was nothing else it could be classified as.

As for Damon, it hadn't taken him as long to get to sleep. He too was wired with electricity from that perfect kiss but he forced himself to sleep, so he could awake and be with Elena sooner. But of course; he had too relived that kiss half a dozen times before he chose to sleep. He had kissed her the first time but she had kissed him this time. For a moment it was like the pressure of her lips against his flooded his body with warmth that was seemingly impossible in the already perfect temperature water. He poured everything to that kiss every fear, every moment of torment, and every confusing, frustrating and fantastic emotion she had ever inspired in him into that kiss, and he felt her lips respond to his eagerly. She hadn't been the one to pull away and that had surprised him. She had clung to him as if her life depended on it; forcing him to support his and her body in the pool of blue. He had gotten lost in that kiss; paying attention to everything there was to notice about Elena Gilbert. She smelled sweet; he had gathered that before but it was a stronger scent now that he had finally focused on it. He noticed the way her lips curled beneath his, and how warm and soft they felt against his own. They belonged adjoined to his; he never wanted them to part. He had also noticed the gaps in her breathing as he would surprise her with every touch, and every moment that he made.

All of his insecurities that he had ever had with women were now buried miles deep inside his head. He knew how foolish he would be if he didn't let this young women in to his heart, into his soul to search for what seemed the reason he was placed on earth. He needed to love Elena Gilbert and that was what he would do. Unconditionally and endlessly.

Halfway through the night, Elena shifted in her sleep feeling suddenly colder than she had earlier but shaking away the feeling choosing to return to sleep; to return to her dreams of Damon which were nothing more than inappropriate.

* * *

><p><em>Lanterns were lit in Elena's room, dozen's of them on either side with Damon and Elena situated in the middle, laying on her bed; kissing; getting lost in each other's presence. The kiss deepened as their tongues slid into each other's mouth creating a chemical reaction between the two. Damon caught Elena off guard as she felt the strap of her nightgown slip down her shoulder, a warm mouth enclosing on her breast causing her to shiver and moan. She lifted her hands to his head running her fingers through his fine jet black hair. She could feel his member hardening against her; pushing into her sex shooting desire from her core to every other fragment of her body. This was the moment she started pushing into him; grinding her body against his wanting to feel him. <em>

_He let out a moan rolling over onto his side facing her. He slowly reached out putting his hand lightly on her waist. He held it there for a moment as he looked into her eyes. When she didn't pull away he wrapped his hand more firmly around her and pulled her slowly towards him removing the remaining nightgown that covered her elegant physique.__She reached up tentatively and placed her hand on his face. "Damon". She said almost breathlessly before she darted out her tongue and licked at her dry lips moments before his crashed onto her; moistening them._

_Elena moaned against his mouth wrapping her arms around his neck as she wrapped one leg around his waist before struggling to remove the last of his clothes. Both bodies were entangled now, nothing separating them anymore. "Oh Elena." He cried as he kissed her deeply. Pushing his tongue deep into her mouth and running his hands gently over her body. He ran his hand down to where her navel was situated and then allowed his fingers to drop lower. He deepened the kiss, kissing her hard as he let his hand brush down over her folds, which held the treasure inside. He was throbbing and her core was on fire; there was no way they could resist each other for much longer. Damon being to put the teasing to an end._

_He moved over her resting his body against hers. His manhood poised at her entrance. She peered up into his passion filled eyes that had darkened with lust and desire since she had last looked into them. Being unable to control himself, Damon slid slowly inside her and felt her shiver._ _Elena closed her eyes tightly lifting her body to meet his slow yet deep thrusts their bodies and souls slowly drifting into oblivion where nothing else mattered. _

_ Elena was too lost in love to have noticed the sudden chill in the air and the recent blackness of night. What had happened to the lanterns? Elena's eyes peered open still feeling Damon's warm breath against her face but not being able to see him but still being able to feel him she decided against trying to turn on the bedside lamp. The air continued to cool, a cold breeze flowing past Elena sending shivers across her entire body from her head to her toes. They continued their motion, kissing each other eagerly until Elena felt something completely different. Something was not right. Damon felt strange. She continued to kiss him but reached as far as she could moving her hand around until she found the lamp, turning in on._

_ What she seen in front of her was not what she had expected... it was no longer Damon making love to her, but Stefan?_

* * *

><p>Elena's eyes fluttered open panting assuring her it was just a dream only for that assumption to be quickly tossed away when she felt the same feeling she had with Stefan a week ago. Turning her head slowly as her body moved uncontrollably, her eyes focused on Stefan's body lingering over hers moving back and forth to his own rhythm. Now that she was fully alert and aware of what Stefan was yet again doing she tried to scream but failed. He had cloth placed in her mouth to ensure she would not make a sound.<p>

Once again she was weak; unable to do anything but hold out this terror.

Stefan, still moaning and breathing heavily, noticed her sudden awake. "Glad to see you have finally joined me. I must say; you are not that exciting while asleep." Elena shuddered. "You are a very heavy sleeper Miss Gilbert; I am extremely surprised it took you this long to feel _this_". Putting emphasis on his last word; he thrust deep inside of her picking up the pace inflicting pain throughout her entire body. A cry escaped her but sounded no more than a muffled moan.

She tried to escape his hold, kicking and pushing with as much force as her body allowed. Deciding to use another approach, she dug her nails into his back as hard as she could, tearing the flesh as she slid down his back. Stefan responded to this by drawing back his hand and slapping her with as much strength as he could draw from the short distance throwing Elena's head back onto the bed. It had hurt her a lot; tears welled in her eyes from the pain along with fear.

"You like to play rough? Well we are playing by my rules." He panted. Elena responded by shaking her head. "Oh I've missed you." He stroked her face still making the awkward forceful movements. "You can only imagine how hard it was for me to stay away from you all week. I have ached for you, Elena. It took every ounce of strength in me to give you space. I had to make you believe it was a one time thing, that you would be safe _with my brother._" He spat yanking the cloth out of her mouth. "How could you spend so much time with him? What we have is special!"

She was at a loss for words, how naïve was he? "No Stefan. We have nothing. Look what you are doing to me right now! You are violating my rights." She hissed back. "You are a fool to think there is anything between you and I."

Stefan leaped off of Elena scrambling to the floor; retrieving his dressing. "Well you are just being a little bit of a mood killer" He stated whilst getting dressed. "You have not seen the last of me. You have not _felt_ the last of me. I will be damned of it. I will make you mine. You have to see, we are meant to be together." Elena could not decipher the tone of his voice. It was cold yet it sounded as if he believed every word he was saying. As if he could not see why they could not be together thus confusing Elena even further.

"Get out of my sight Stefan. I hate you. You will never touch me again." She assured.

Laughing he reached for her door. "You keep telling yourself that. As long as it helps you sleep at night." He shot her a sly grin before disappearing behind the door.

Elena broke down once again. Her mind wondering to the other brother, the loving brother; the one she had been dreaming of earlier while Stefan was inside of her. She felt sick at this thought. How could she have remained asleep while Stefan invaded her? How did he even get inside of her room? Ever since that night; she had locked her door and the only one having the spare key being Damon, not that he had used it but just in case. She was such a fool to think he would not come near her anymore. Of course he would. She should have considered it suspicious that that had not seen him for a week. They had hardly come into contact with him; he would not even appear at dinner. Giuseppe would say he was not feeling well and Elena thought that perhaps; he was feeling ashamed of what he had done and he was trying to muster up some of the dignity he had left before showing himself once more.

Not being able to remain along any longer; Elena hopped out of bed pulling down her nightgown; slipping on her slippers and heading towards Damon's room. Had anybody seen her they would have noticed her awkward walk up the hallway. She was limping, and aching. At least she was not as beaten up as before. Elena predicted the only mark to prove he had hurt her again was a bruise that was probably settling on her cheek from where he hit her.

Finding herself in front of Damon's bedroom door; she hesitated not knowing whether to go inside or to knock; waking him. She settled on going inside, not risking the chance of Stefan or Mr. Salvatore hearing the knocking of the wood. She slowly twisted the knob of the door; relieved when it was unlocked because she did not have his key. Opening the door quietly making sure it did not make any noise; she quickly inserted herself in his room closing the door behind her.

His room had no light but the moon lit sky shining in through the window served as her light as she tiptoed to his bed staring at the man sleeping so peacefully. He looked like an angel, his face flawless as he slept; a stray hair down over his closed eyes. Elena's eyes trailed down to the remainder of his body which was half covered by the soft white sheets. She could not resist joining him. Pulling back the sheets; Elena climbed into his bed wrapping her arms around him placing a soft kiss on his lips.

He was nothing like Stefan, he was the better brother. It was too bad Giuseppe could not see it. He must be partly blind or just stubbornly in denial not to see it. Damon was a god, or so it seemed. Everything about him was perfect. Elena began to trail her fingers up and down his torso causing him to stir; opening his eyes to be startled by the puffy chocolate ones that he loved but were swollen from tears.

Yawning he rubbed his eyes, making sure that Elena was indeed, lid beside him. "Elena, what are you doing? What is the matter?"

She thought that she was finished crying but she was clearly mistaken. The tears surfaced again although she tried with all her might to stay calm. "Damon." She simply said, the tears staining her cheeks. Damon knew exactly what had happened. Sitting up as quickly as he had opened his eyes, a look spread across his features that Elena was yet to witness. She quickly discovered it was rage. Damon was not a one to curse but he could not help himself. Not meaning to disrespect his mother, he silently spat". I am going to kill that son-on-a-bitch."

* * *

><p><strong>Review and I will love you forever :) <strong>


	7. Fool me twice shame on me

_A/N : There's not going to be much of an author's note this chapter, I don't want to bore you. Just the simple thanks for everybody who is tagging along with me on this journey, it means the world. Again, my 100th reviewer will get to pick a scene or prompt that they want incorperated in this_ story._Just putting that out there :) _

_**I hope you enjoy this chapter! I know I did. Muahahah...**_

__Disclaimer: I do not own the vampire Diaries or any of it's content. If I did; Damon and Elena would be together all ready!

* * *

><p><em>She thought that she was finished crying but she was clearly mistaken. The tears surfaced again although she tried with all her might to stay calm. "Damon." She simply said, the tears staining her cheeks. Damon knew exactly what had happened. Sitting up as quickly as he had opened his eyes, a look spread across his features that Elena was yet to witness. She quickly discovered it was rage. Damon was not a one to curse but he could not help himself. Not meaning to disrespect his mother, he silently spat". I am going to kill that son-on-a-bitch."<em>

* * *

><p>After she had told him everything once again; he was simply disgusted with his brother's actions and he wasn't about to let it slide again. They were so naïve to believe he would not try to harm Elena again. But this time would be different. Damon was going to make his brother pay for hurting her.<p>

Elena was still curled up on Damon's bed, his arms wrapped around her; securing her with warmth and comfort at such a needed time while thinking of a plan on what he would choose to do with Stefan. He was doing to do it before morning came, that was for sure. Finally an idea arose within him. Looking at Elena he realized she was sound asleep. _Perfect._ He thought, the less he had to tell her the better. He knew Elena well enough by now to know that she would not want him to harm Stefan, just to frighten him. But he was going to harm AND frighten him; not giving a damn about what Elena would want right now. He deserved what Damon was about to do to him, one hundred percent.

Damon removed his arms from Elena's slender waist getting out of bed ever so slowly trying not to make a single sound. Glancing at her beautiful face once more he noticed the bruise that had appeared on her cheek. Her flawless face was now flawed but she still looked peaceful while she was dreaming; as if nothing had happened. Damon would make things better. Elena would never be touched by Stefan again.

Lowering down to her height on the bed, he placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I will make it better beautiful, I promise." He whispered before heading out of his moon-lit room and into the hallway, searching for the things he needed for his plan.

* * *

><p>Damon was now standing in front of his sibling's room holding rope, cloth, and a knife. Opening the door to Stefan's room as quietly as he could, he entered and managed to close the door without and stir or suspicious.<p>

It was a good thing Stefan had a bedside window or else he would not have been able to see a damn thing. Making his way closer to his brother; he looked at him. Right now he did not look like a rapist and for a split second, Damon felt bad for what he was about to do. But that thought quickly disappeared when he noticed his brother's exposed back. Not being covered by the sheet's he seen scratch marks cascading down his back like cat claws, going in nearly a inch. The blood still stained to his back. Knowing it was Elena's work; pure hatred rose again making him feel no pity to the monster he dared call his brother.

He thanked the time when him and his brother spent every moment together. He had learned Stefan too, was a heavy sleeper making it quite easy to tie his hands, and feet and managing to put cloth in his mouth. Still thinking of how to go about doing this, Damon lightly traced the tip of the knife over Stefan's back, and then over the side of his face that was visible. Deciding against cutting him right off the bat; he situated the knife at the beginning of the deepest cut on his back. Applying pressure he deepened the already deep wound, dragging the knife all the way down to the end of the claw mark.

A devilish grin spread across the elder brother as Stefan awoke cringing in pain. Moaning against the cloth; his eyes shot opening glaring at Damon.

"Look who is finally awake" He stroked the knife back up the wound, inserting it quarter of an inch deeper than before. A muffled scream coming out of Stefan in the process following by involuntary squirming. "I am so glad you are a heavy sleeper but you're much more fun while you are awake". Practically stealing the words Elena had recited to him. Looking back to his brother he noticed the blood that had trickled onto his white sheets. Putting his attention back to Stefan he withdrew the knife back and lunged it into the place located between his neck and his collar bone; making sure not to go in too deep to strike something major; but deep enough to inflict a whole lot of pain.

Damon consciously thanked his father for forcing him into the army once upon a time. He had learned so many tactics and tricked that could later be used as useful. This, for example was one of them. He had hated doing it back then but now not so much. War was not his thing; fighting for a country didn't really matter to Damon. But fighting for love; that was an entirely different story. If he cared about Elena, which he did beyond description; he would fight for her. Not physically fight for her to be his obviously, but per se for her well-being and her security. Damon was here to offer that and Stefan was just getting in the way, ruining that, ruining Elena. He knew it was messing her up; she had not been completely normal since but she would not offer to talk about it so he would not bring it up. He knew she needed her personal space and he was going to give it to her; as much as it killed him.

Concentrating back to his brother moaning and yelling softly in pain, he let out a laugh. "It does not feel so nice to be hurt does it, _brother_?" Spitting the last words at him. He began to trail the knife up his brother's neck, across his jaw, before making its way back to the crook of his neck; placed right where his jugular was. "Feeling helpless like a damsel in distress does not feel so good does it, _brother?"_ Again saying the last word in the same tone as before. Applying just enough pressure on his neck to scare him, Damon leaned in to his brother's ear whispering quietly. "Tell me, how does it feel? To be hurt, tied, clothed. You will be scared, but only physically. Elena, she is scared for life, mentally." Leaning back he dropped the knife, drew back his fist and struck Stefan square in the jaw with as much force as he could. "Words can not describe how much hate I feel for you right now. If it were up to me; I would kill you right here, right now. But I can not do that. Father would disown me and I would be charged; probably sent to the gallows. But do not _dare_" He emphasized. "…think that I would not kill you. I have killed others, many others. You being my brother do not mean _anything_ anymore." Removing the cloth from his mouth he continued to threaten his brother; his ice blue eyes focused on his terror filled emeralds. "You are going to pack and leave. You are going to tell father you are going to the army, to fight for your country just like your loving older brother had. You are going to never come back here; you will send a letter in some month's time; making father believe that you died fighting for your country. I do not care where you go, you will never come back here. The day you return; I will kill you myself. That is a promise. Do you understand?" His eyes constricting together while Stefan's did the exact opposite.

Feeling almost obligated to respond, Stefan responds uncontrollably, his words leaving his mouth shaky "I understand."

"Great" Damon smirks. "Now get packing. You are leaving right after breakfast." His brother nodding sheepishly. With that, he untied his hands, and left; giving his brother his final hour or so to himself.

* * *

><p>Damon dumped the evidence of any crime into the garbage knowing that nobody would ever look for it. Nobody could ever know what he had just done, not even Elena. He did not want to risk putting himself in danger; he needed to protect Elena. He decided he would just tell her that he and Stefan had a fight, and he made it clear to Stefan to leave, while leaving out the parts dealing with torture and pain. It would only make matters worst. Elena would probably overreact and if Giuseppe had to find out; he would be doomed beyond return, more likely than not getting kicked out of his own home so there was no way he in hell would risk telling a soul about his little ordeal.<p>

Making his way back to his room where Elena was still sleeping he slipped in the room, noticing he was being awfully sneaky tonight. He made his way back to his large open bed where she was sprawled over half of it and slowly crept back onto the bed, wrapping his arms around her as if he had never left. Not even attempting to get back to sleep because he was too wound up to try. He never wanted anything more in his life than for his brother to leave and he was longing for the hour to pass so it would come true.

Damon stared out the window, with his arms still around Elena as he watched the sun rise. It was a calming scene. He watched the shades of reds and orange peer up over the trees as he heard the birds singing their morning melodies wishing that everything in his and Elena's life were as peaceful as this. More so Elena's than his. He did not want to wake her but he knew she would want breakfast. Dawn had nearly come to an end as he gracefully shook her until she yawned, stretched and revealed her large, chocolate brown eyes to him.

"Good morning beautiful" He chimed, putting on the best display of a good mood as he could.

And in return she tossed him a light smile. "Good morning Damon."

Not hesitating to wait to tell her he blurted it almost instantly. "Stefan's leaving after breakfast." He watched her face drop with surprise and gives him a 'what-do-you-mean' kind of look. "I went to him when you fell asleep. We had an argument, of course. I told him I wanted him out of here." He bluntly shrugged. "I do not wish to have him near you, Elena; or any of my family for that matter. As much as me and father do not get along, I do not wish for him to be in danger and with Stefan, you do not know what he is capable of doing next." She nodded in agreement not bothering to speak. She could see he was not finished but she was mistaken. "Anyway… you should go get ready for breakfast. He will most likely be eating with us; but this is the last you will see of him I promise" He placed a light kiss on her forehead as she stood up.

"Thank you Damon." And she walked out the door heading to her own bedroom.

Once she got there, she bathed quickly to freshen up. She managed to put her hair in a 4 stranded braid quite quickly and settled on just curling the front couple strands. Next, she applied her make-up which needed to be done a little more than usual to cover up her bruise. She powered her face until the bruise was nearly invisible and then added a touch of blush, to dust away the physical remnants of last night. Settled on her cream colored dress, she quickly got ready and headed downstairs for breakfast not waiting to be escorted by Damon.

* * *

><p>The beginning part of breakfast had been awkward. Elena sat next to Damon, across from Stefan who was sat along side of Mr. Salvatore. Damon watched Elena eat her food, not bothering to neither speak nor look beyond her plate. He would glance at Stefan every now and then; who looked as if he seen a ghost. He would not let his eyes trail to his father nor Elena but instead shot worrisome looks to his brother. Giuseppe had been the first to speak. He had just tried to make small talk, asking about this and that until finally he asked what the three young adults had planned for the day to which Stefan revealed his departure.<p>

"I'm leaving father." He stated still not looking up.

Giuseppe nearly choked on his juice. "What ever do you mean, son?"

"I'm leaving. I have decided to join the forces for a while, you know; represent my country like Damon has done." He smiled to his brother, not meaning a centimeter of it. "There is nothing for me here. I have finished my studies, I want to experience new things; see new people."

"I do not think this is the best—"The father began.

"It is father, trust me. I will be back; I will write each week I promise. But I have made my decision and I am leaving as soon as I finish my meal." He sat back folding his arms.

"I can not tell you what to do anymore Stefan but your mother would not have wanted this. She would not have wanted her youngest son out risking his life for his country on any circumstances." His voice rose.

_But she would not mind her eldest son going off would she, father? _Damon silently thought to himself, not bringing it up. He did not want to start any more of a ruckus that it already was. He hated how his father chose Stefan over him, time and time again when Damon did everything in his power to try and please him, but it was never enough. Stefan would always be favored by the man. His mother was the one who took to him, and now she was gone.

"You let Damon go. Let me go." Stefan stood up finally taking his eyes off his plate. He glanced at Giuseppe, then to Damon, but lastly to Elena for just half of a second before walking out the door. "Until next time." Before he completely disappeared beyond the door, Elena turned her head to look at him. He looked back giving her an evil grin before disappearing. Ignoring his grin, relief and happiness rose in Elena forcing a smile to creep upon her pretty little face and she finished her meal contently; the fear was nearly gone. But she would not let her guard down one hundred percent ever again; no matter how safe she felt; no matter how close she got to a person; not even Damon. She knew this would cause trouble on them. He had to earn it, more than he already had. Glancing at him, she caught him starting right back at her, his pearly white teeth glistening back at her. Her face mirrored his as the same expression sprang across her face. This was going to be a very lovely day.

* * *

><p><strong>Be a darling, hit that lovely button below and tell me what you think :) <strong>


	8. Confession of love

_A/N: _**So I know it's been forever since I've last updated, I'm truly sorry. I couldn't find the time to update. I had tests, homework, my boyfriend that's away for college had spring break so I spent the last week and a half with him finding hardly any time to update. My great grandmother also got very sick and they didn't think she was going to make it for a while but she pulled through so that also impacted my delay. I'm sorry I hope this chapter makes up for it although there isn't a whole lot going on it I find so I hope you all like it.**

****_Were getting around the corner to the 100th review. Whoever is the lucky winner will get to tell me a prompt, scene or anything they want to happen in the future. Just a little reminder because that's only 14 reviews away and I'm really hoping that this chapter will get that :) _

_Thanks so much for sticking around and reading this, it means the world to me._

_Disclaimer: I do not own the vampire diaries. _

* * *

><p><em>Ignoring his grin, relief and happiness rose in Elena forcing a smile to creep upon her pretty little face and she finished her meal contently; the fear was nearly gone. But she would not let her guard down one hundred percent ever again; no matter how safe she felt; no matter how close she got to a person; not even Damon. She knew this would cause trouble on them. He had to earn it, more than he already had. Glancing at him, she caught him starting right back at her, his pearly white teeth glistening back at her. Her face mirrored his as the same expression sprang across her face. This was going to be a very lovely day.<em>

* * *

><p>Damon and Elena did not wish to continue the meal with Giuseppe. He looked horrible but Damon was yet to feel sorry for him. He would wallow in sadness over the young rapist of a son but he would gladly give up his elder one. It truly disgusted Damon beyond belief and when he dismissed himself from the table without question; Elena got up and followed him. She knew what the matter with him was. She knew how much he hated his father favoring Stefan over him and she still could not manage to figure out why he would. She knew the both of them and Damon was the obvious pick even before she really knew him.<p>

There was Damon Alessandro Salvatore. He was lean, muscular, had jet black hair, ocean blue eyes. He was a walking god when it came to looks. He was the best looking man she had ever laid eyes on and she could speak for many other ladies. His personality was so unique. He was amazing, breathtaking, charming, caring, devil-like, gorgeous, helpful, scary, sweet and addicting all at once. He was the gentlest man you could ever meet but he had an edge that made you want to question that. Whenever she was around him, she felt things she could not even explain. He cared for everybody; he had a heart of gold once you got to know him like Elena did and like Giuseppe should have seen numerous times over his son's life. Damon devoted himself before Elena came along to trying to please his father. He risked his life for him. And all he got in return was a pout or a snarky remark. He was never good enough for him and nobody could figure out why.

And then there was Stefan Gustavo Salvatore. He too was lean, but not as muscular as Damon. He had brown hair with natural gold highlights that matched his emerald colored eyes. He was a very handsome man, no doubt but he lacked the grown up look. He still had his child-like features which made him more cute than handsome. He was charming, sweet, gentle, and caring to everybody else which made him seem like the perfect son. He seemed so nice, like he truly cared for you. Elena admitted, she was attracted to him and at first, it was a nice bit. However, nobody knows his true colors. He is a twisted rapist. If only Mr. Salvatore noticed his son's true colors instead of looking at him but not really seeing. Giuseppe was no naïve towards Stefan that it made Elena mad. But nonetheless; he was gone now and hopefully that was for good.

* * *

><p>Damon wished to be alone for a little while after breakfast so Elena let him be. She went to her room for a bit, tidied up her things, then decided to take a stroll towards the field; mindlessly heading toward the falls.<p>

Once she got there, she sat down on the chair-shaped rocks and began to write in her journal. She had forgotten to over the course of the weeks because of everything that had happened. But she was alone now, free to think and write whatever she wanted and even though it was something she wanted to forget; she needed to write it down sooner or later. If not, it would drive her insane.

_April 26__th__, 1864_

_I had no idea that it has been almost a month since I last updated. So much has happened that I never found time or the ability to write down what I'm about to. It's dark, and I'm lucky I can handle it, even if barely._

_ Remember the Salvatore's I wrote about in my last entry? Well their father is so kind, such an honorable and caring man. I'll start with how well he's help me adjust over the while. _

_ I've grown fond of Damon, quite fond actually. I think he really likes me. He seems to force me to believe that he does anyway. We have shared a few kisses. I can't even describe my feelings during those times. It is truly unexplainable. It did not occur to me once that the feeling of 'love' was like this. I think I should call it that. I have been yet to say it out loud or even admit it to myself but I know now that's what it is. He has been amazing through everything that has happened and if it weren't for him; I would probably be very mentally ill. _

_ One evening, I was in my room tending to my appearance. Damon and I had plans to go swimming. We were waiting for the right time because we wished to leave unnoticed. We had plans to meet at a tree in the middle of their field but I did not make it to that tree._

_ I heard a quiet knock on the door, I thought it was Damon coming to surprise me and we would walk to the falls together, but it was Stefan. I didn't know what he wanted; I found it peculiar for the moment. He walked on in to my bedroom and he closed the door behind him. He… started saying all these things about me wanting him and him wanting me. He pushed me on the bed and tore my clothes off. I felt so weak; there was nothing I could do. I felt helpless as I kicked as screamed while he violated me but no matter what I tried. No matter how hard I tried to break free; he was too strong for me._

_ I don't want to go into great detail about that night because I want to forget as much as possible. Needless to say; things went good after that. I never laid eyes on him for days. Damon stayed with me. He found me later that night, curled up in a ball bruised black and blue and he comforted me. I think that's the moment I realized I cared truly for him. _

_ That week Damon never left me. We did everything together trying to avoid his father because of my bruises. He took me horseback riding; he taught me how to ride and he 'gave' me my own horse, how exciting. We haven't rode much since the first time, maybe once or twice but it was very enjoyable and it is something I will never forget. He is so sweet._

_ We let our guard down after that. Stefan never showed any signs to make us weary or suspicious so I went back to the way things were before. I had just unlocked my door for the first night last night, Damon being the only one to have a key. That night I slept so peacefully at first, I didn't notice the off feeling I had before I went to sleep until later._

_ My dreams were filled of Damon. There was a romantic setting and we were together, it all seemed so real. But in my dream, all of a sudden the wind roared in, the candles went out and everything went cold. The next thing I knew I was back to reality, Stefan hovering over me with his evil grin doing what he did weeks before. In my sleep. I can not believe that somebody could be so monstrous and have no pity, no consideration for another human being. _

_ As I looked into his eyes when mine first opened, my stomach flopped. The protective walls of my room and door suddenly meant nothing. I was defenseless and exposed with no hope of breaking free or stopping him. He had the strength, the power and the weight to do whatever he wanted to me, and that's what he did._

_ When he left I ran for Damon's room and I crawled into bed with him, not caring that I was to yet again; cross another boundary of personal space. But I did not even care nor did he once I woke him up. I fell asleep in his arms that night, surprisingly. I was so shaken and so afraid that I did not know if I had it in me to rest and let my guard down once again._

_ This morning at breakfast Stefan never dared to make eye contact with me, his brother or his father. He just ate in silence, as we all did. That was until he got up and bluntly stated that he was leaving to join the army. I'm not sure how much of this I believe but he's gone. I do not really care where and I do not care why but he is gone. That is all that matters to me. Giuseppe did not want him to go. I noticed Damon's face and how it sunk with his father's words. He was more than happy to send Damon to fight but not wanting to send his younger son hurt Damon. That's why I am not with him right now. He wanted time alone, and that is just what I have to give him, his space. _

_ I have to get this out, because I can not bear to keep it inside any longer._

_I felt lost, beyond lost when I first arrived here. I had no hope. My parent's death took all my strength from me and I put on a good face to The Salvatore's but it tore me apart and it killed me. But ever since I have taken the time to get to know Damon, I feel different. If I were a flightless bird; I could now fly again. That's what I feel like. I have my energy back. I have regained my strength and my hope. I have felt things with Damon, things that I didn't know I could even conjure up in myself to feel. I feel love toward him. I can be myself around him and yet he will still show interest in me and be the gentleman of my dreams. I love him. I truthfully do. That has to be what the feeling in the pit of my stomach is. I can no muster up any other word to call it. My stomach tingles whenever he's near. When we're close my heart beat speeds up and when we're apart; I feel down. Like right now, I desperately want to go and comfort him; to walk hand-in-hand to assure him how important he is and how wonderful he is. _

_ I know I have to tell him soon about my feelings. I'm afraid if I wait, I won't have the courage to tell him but I'm afraid. I have yet to love someone and what if he hurts me? I am afraid to let him in completely. I know he will not hurt me like Stefan has but what if I love him too much? Is that even possible? What if he actually doesn't feel the same way towards me? I would be crushed if he does not return my feelings. I have to wait. We need to spend more time together and wait for Stefan's departure and my second incident to blow over. _

_ I promise to myself to try and write my frequently, the next time being when I confess my love to Damon. It will not take as long as my last entry, that is my goal._

_Elena. _

As Elena gathered her belongings, her quill, ink and journal she headed back toward the mansion. The sun was at its highest in the sky which meant it was early noon. She had spent at least two hours at the falls writing and it was time to get back to Damon. She got lost in herself once again walking back toward her home. She tuned out to the song birds singing their sweet melody for her. She got lost in the smell of the honeysuckles and the lilies, lilacs and roses. She got lost in the warm breeze that flowed past her face, making her chocolate hair dance behind her.

She overlooked Damon trudging toward her until he was only meters from her. Startling her, Elena looked up and gasped.

"Gosh Damon you scared me." A smirk popped onto his face.

"My apologies Miss Elena"

"Do not apologize for your presence Damon. I adore having you around to accompany me." She added the last part so she did not sound too cheesy.

"The feelings are mutual Miss Elena. You are the first person I have met that I love spending so much time with." His face lit up as bright as the sun above them.

It was indications like these that made her think he cared for her as well. If she only knew. Damon was crazy about her and he could not wait any longer to tell her his true feelings.

Linking his fingers with hers, he motioned her to walk; preparing himself for what he was about to say to her. "Elena there is something I have to you tell you."

Her heart beat sped up once again and she gulped unsure if what he was going to say was good news or bad. She hoped he was going to be the one to reveal their feelings toward each other but what if there was something else he had to say?

"What is it Damon? You can tell me anything." She locked eyes with his and swore she seen a flicker of happiness mixed with nervousness.

"That is what this is about actually." He started but discontinued to walk. He faced her and grabbed both of her hands. "I can tell you anything. There are no secrets with you, with us." He corrected. "I trust you more than I trust anybody and I have never been as happy as am I since you moved here. I think I'm in love with you."

Elena's jaw dropped.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Review, you know you want to :) <span>_**

****I just have another little thing to say. I was wondering if I should start making Damon record a journal. If I do I'm going to say he already done it but I'm going to start writing his entries because I find that Elena's emotions are easily displayed for us when I do this and it would help tremendously with Damon. So in your reviews and comments, tell me if you think I should go forward with this idea or not, because it could come in handy and I'm not sure what to do yet.


	9. You're invited

Hey all. Going to be shorter here than I usually am, I'm afraid I might get annoying lol. I'm just going to say congratulations to **Lexipedia** who was my Th reviewer. I'm so happy that this story is getting so many great responses and this was her message to me : _ Maybe they could have a ball/dance and/or Elena meets Caroline and they become friends.^^_ So the end of this chapter kind of starts her idea. I don't want to give anything away so I will keep my mouth closed.

One more thing, I'm going to be doing this award thing for every 100 reviews so the next winner will be my 200th, hopefully that isn't too far away :)

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries**

* * *

><p><strong><em>Damon sat in his room frustrated. Only recently had he come accustomed to placing his feelings anywhere but beside in his head. He was not the kind of man to let his walls down, or even show emotion really. That was until Elena came around. Before her, there was nobody but the journal and that's why he started. He needed to let out his anger and his pain and loneliness. His father would not listen to him, he did not trust Stefan before and he was glad he never so he confided in himself; writing hours upon hours on end; his emotions that he desperately wished he could have expressed otherwise.<em>**

**_He found himself picking up the ink and quill near his study table but unsure of what to write about just yet. He would include Elena. Of course Elena. He had made a few entries before she came along but he simply had no time to just stop his life and write anymore. He wanted to be near her. He needed to be near her. He needed to protect her. Skipping through the pages of his papered life; he settled on starting at the beginning. He had only started writing while in the midst of war; deciding that writing would also help keep him sane._**

_February 24__th__, 1864. Week seven. _

_ This place disgusts me. My father disgusts me. I hate everything lately. Who does Giuseppe Salvatore think he is sending me here, fighting for everybody else's freedom but my own and yet; he's okay with me sacrificing myself in the process?_

_ I wake at dawn to the sound of guns firing, their sounds getting planted in my mind. Throughout the day I watch my brothers die, and at night; I basically have to sleep with one eye open freezing. Then the day repeats. How can this be a place for me? Why is it so important for me to come here? I'm of age, big deal. I hate my father, always choosing Stefan over me. I bet they're sat down in the dining room; having a nice feast. I hope my father rots in hell; that is the only thing he is suitable for._

_**His fingers involuntarily flipped the page, his eyes scanning the black words below him.**_

_March 1__st__, 1864. Week eight._

_ I am so cold. My body and my soul. I kill here because I have to but if I could get my hands on Giuseppe right now; I would kill him willingly. I almost died this week and I doubt he would care if I had. A land mine exploded just north of our camp. A fellow soldier, Jacob seen the bombs expire and he pushed me out of the way along with him just in time. That night, I kept thinking; what would have happened if he did not save me? Would Giuseppe have a funeral for me? Would he weep and mourn for his oldest son's loss? Of course not. The bastard._

_ I could go the rest of my life without speaking to him and I will if I can, even when I'm home. I hate him. _

_**Flinching at the words he turned to the next page. He did not flinch before of his feelings toward his father, but he flinched because of how different he was just a couple months back.**_

_March 23rd, 1864 Week 10._

_ I'm leaving to go home tomorrow to the hell hole. I absolutely can not wait to move out of that house. I have no reason to stay. I need to get out of Mystic Falls for a while. I need to find women that would love me unlike Giuseppe. I'm lonely as hell and it kills me to know I'm going home to an empty home, metaphorically. One day I hope to find someone who's like me. I can be caring when I want to. Giuseppe just causes the worst side of me to be revealed and all of Mystic Falls know it. _

_ Trouble maker, they call me. Disobedient because of my lack of interest toward my father's ideas. To hell with everybody, they can talk. I honestly do not give a damn anymore._

_**Reliving his lifelong pain, he turned to a new page; ready to fill it with happier words disregarding Stefan and a little of his father. He was starting fresh. Elena was changing him and he could sense it with everything in him. He needed to let this out. He began to write…**_

_April 26__th__, 1864 Home at last._

_ I've been home for a while now doing this and that. I came back here wanting to destroy my family, wreck my father and discard my home throwing Mystic Falls in the past but now I find myself wanting to stay and protect her. Elena. I returned home not knowing she would be residing with us considering the fact I did not contact my father since I left. Her parents were old friends of my fathers and they died. I'm surprised he was kind enough to let her live with us but over the years, I have come to realize that he cares for everybody but me. _

_ Elena let me in. She was kind to me, actually showing interest in me more than Stefan for a change. At first I was baffled that she took any keenness towards me whatsoever but then I stopped questioning it and starting believing in it. She's so beautiful, the prettiest woman I have laid eyes on although I was never the one for relationships she's got my opinion changed._

_ Matters not worth repeating hurt her. Let's just say Stefan's obsessive personality got the best of him needing to get her. She got hurt in the process, twice. I did not care if he was my brother; she showed more interest in me than he ever had so I chose her over him forcing him to leave. I threatened him a couple past nights ago and that's where my beast came out. I could not keep it in anymore. Giuseppe still favored him, he was an ass so I snapped and now he's gone. It's for Elena's safety and that's all I am concerned about. She needs protection. She has already lost everybody that meant something to her; she does not need to deal with any more tragedies._

_ I have found myself falling for her these past weeks. I do not know what is happening. She is tearing each of my walls down, one by one; all the barriers I put up over the years to keep myself from feeling any worst are diminishing. And she makes it so easy to care for her- to love her. I love Elena Gilbert and she has to know. I have to tell her before I lose my will to. _

**_Damon forcefully snapped his journal shut and tossed it in the bookshelf, left his room and ran out of his home as quickly as he could._**

**_Wondering where she would be, he instantaneously knew she would be at the falls or at least near there. That is where he would have gone and they had so much in common._**

**_His assumption was approved a few moments later. He seen her; walking toward him smiling; looking all around her taking in the beauty of nature. Damon began to get a little nervous realizing what he was about to do. He had never done this before; opened up to a woman and told her his feelings so this was all new to him and it frightened him but there was no turning back now._**

**_Nearing closer to Elena, she finally spotted him, her eyes widened and her mouth became slightly ajar. His heartbeat speeding up, the distance between them was finally closed._**

"Gosh Damon you scared me." A smirk popped onto his face.

"My apologies Miss Elena"

"Do not apologize for your presence Damon. I adore having you around to accompany me." She added the last part so she did not sound too cheesy.

"The feelings are mutual Miss Elena. You are the first person I have met that I love spending so much time with." His face lit up as bright as the sun above them.

It was indications like these that made her think he cared for her as well. If she only knew. Damon was crazy about her and he could not wait any longer to tell her his true feelings.

Linking his fingers with hers, he motioned her to walk; preparing himself for what he was about to say to her. "Elena there is something I have to you tell you."

Her heart beat sped up once again and she gulped unsure if what he was going to say was good news or bad. She hoped he was going to be the one to reveal their feelings toward each other but what if there was something else he had to say?

"What is it Damon? You can tell me anything." She locked eyes with his and swore she seen a flicker of happiness mixed with nervousness.

"That is what this is about actually." He started but discontinued to walk. He faced her and grabbed both of her hands. "I can tell you anything. There are no secrets with you, with us." He corrected. "I trust you more than I trust anybody and I have never been as happy as am I since you moved here. I think I'm in love with you."

Elena's jaw dropped.

Damon was not sure how to respond to her action. Her just stood there and let her take it in for a moment; waiting for her to react on her own until her eyes finally locked with his; the smile he learned to know and love appear over her blushed face.

"You-you love me?" She stuttered. She kept thinking it was too coincidental that she had just been thinking of telling Damon this sometime soon but he beat her to it.

Closing the distance between them Damon cupped her face in the palms of his hands and stared directly into her doe eyes. "Yes. I am in love with you."

Quickly looking at the ground, Elena became shy all of a sudden and a funny feeling rushed to her tummy. _That would be the butterflies._ She thought. _Right on queue. _She was still in awe of what he said that her silence became awkward. What could she possible say to Damon right now? Of course she had to say it back, if not; he would think she was rejecting him and she most certainly was not doing that. But it all happened so fast, Elena did not think the conversation over in her head yet; she had only just planned it not knowing it would spontaneously come up.

It was getting a little too awkward for Damon and quite frankly, he was beginning to worry. His eyes never left her while hers stayed directed to the ground. She was not smiling anymore nor was she pouting; she was just emotionless and Damon hated that. He did not know a single thing she was thinking right now and the suspense was literally tearing him apart. Not being able to stand the silence any longer; he broke it by clearing his throat causing her eyes to meet his instantly.

"I'm sorry." She muttered. "My brain left my head for a second there" Chuckling; her hands went to Damon's face, this time caressing _his_ perfectly structured jaw line. "You must be a mind reader" She whispered.

"And why is that?" He retorted.

"Because I was just at the falls alone with my thoughts and you kept appearing in them. I thought our relationship over and over and how close we have grown this last little while and well… I really like you Damon." She inhaled and then exhaled slowly. "I love you, Damon."

And that is all that needed to be said. Their love for each other was out. Their feelings were shared and their lips locked the moment she said those four tiny words. The tingly, warm feeling they both knew all too well came back; causing their hearts to flutter and their thought to blur together.

* * *

><p><em><span>To The Salvatore's and Miss Gilbert:<span>_

_Please honor us with your presence to our Mystic Falls Formal Ball tomorrow night._

_Select a guest, anybody you prefer and we look forward to seeing you there._

_ Sincerely, The Lockwoods_

"Elena" Damon called while closing the main door.

Leaning over the railing of the stairs, she replied "What is it Damon?"

His famous smirk presented itself. "How would you like to be my date at the Formal Ball?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** _So, I went with the whole Damon journal thing. Not much repeat of previous events, just reasons behind his feelings. Short and too the point, so just in-case this confused you. This chapter started off before last chapter ended, while Damon was still in his room. Hope you guys caught on to this! And, from now on; the few flash backs there are in this chapter will be bolded and italiced like I just did :) _

**Review, pretty pretty please? :) **


	10. In the midst of a waltz

__Hi everybody. I told you this update would not take 3 weeks! To make it up to you I made it a bit longer than my usual chapters trying to fit in as much of the ball as possible although I hardly have a dent put in it so I decided to split it up.

_**I would like to thank each and every person who read this story thus far, thank you so much :)**_

Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries.

* * *

><p><em><span>To The Salvatore's and Miss Gilbert:<span>_

_Please honor us with your presence to our Mystic Falls Formal Ball tomorrow night._

_Select a guest, anybody you prefer and we look forward to seeing you there._

_ Sincerely, The Lockwood's_

_ "Elena" Damon called while closing the main door._

_ Leaning over the railing of the stairs, she replied "What is it Damon?"_

_ His famous smirk presented itself. "How would you like to be my date at the Formal Ball?"_

* * *

><p>Elena's eyes darted open in astonishment. She had never been to a ball before. She skipped down the stairs toward Damon "A formal ball? What is the occasion?"<p>

She ran into his arms and he lifted her up and twirled her. "It's something they have annually. It's for the founding families of Mystic Falls. The families that were always originally from here." He placed her back on the ground placing a gentle kiss in her hair. "There's us, the Salvatore's, the hosts- the Lockwood's, the Forbes, the Fell's, the Bennett's and I think that is all." He counted on his fingers making sure he had not forgotten anybody. "Other families go, of course but they throw this every year because it is tradition. It started off just for the founding families when well… there were no others around but it's since then grew."

"If you can choose whomever you wish, why choose me? I presume there are many very pretty girls living her in Mystic Falls that would love for you to escort them." Elena teased nudging Damon's shoulder playfully causing him to laugh.

"Perhaps you're right. I am dangerously gorgeous and all." Elena rolled her eyes. Damon both hands on either side of her face and pulled her in close. "There is nobody in Mystic Falls, or even in the world that I would rather go with than you." He leaned in placing a tender soft kiss on her lips. "You're the only girl I want."

Elena wanted to believe Damon, she truly did. Whenever he kissed her, her mind went fuzzy and whenever he looked at her; her knees felt weak. There was no way to deny that she loved him, she would never try to but letting him in completely was the problem. She had never loved a man before. Sure she had loved her father and her best friend, Matt but that kind of love cannot compare to what she feels for Damon. What she felt for Damon ignited fire beneath her skin, it consumed her more and more every time she would look at him and that is what she is afraid of. Letting him in and wholeheartedly knowing that she will not get hurt. Of course she knows that everything will not always be smooth sailing but it's the heartbreak that gets her.

Before Stefan came along, Elena would have been more than happy to give her entire heart and soul to Damon. She knows that Damon would never do anything like what Stefan had done to her, but she could not help but build a wall. A wall that will help keep her high above pain, above hurt and above hardship and heartache. Damon would never abuse her. Damon would never physically hurt her intentionally and from what she could tell, he would never hurt her intentionally in any way. However, Elena can not help but be cautious of her well-beings. She wants to let Damon in unconditionally without omission but her mind won't seem to let her. Yes, she has let him in to an extent. They spend nearly every waking minute together, they are courting, and she is strongly attracted to him but a part of her could not believe everything he said wholly. What if he was lying to her? What if she loved him too much at one point, and he broke her heart? Elena can not let that happen, she will not let that happen. For now, she will love Damon with as much force as her body allows but until she can give herself to him undividedly; she has to remain weary.

Blushing at his words, she smiled. "There is nobody I would rather be with either." Which was the truth.

Those words that escaped Damon's lips could not have been truer. She was the only person he has ever really wanted. He was never the one for relationships. Hell, he didn't even attempt to get in one because nobody caught his eye. Not like the way she had the power to capture his attention. When she talks, the sun is brighter. When she smiles, he smiles involuntarily and when she laughs, it's his hearts favorite melody. He do not know how to describe her. When he looks at her, she is perfection, angelic and his opinion was not going to change anytime soon.

He knows that she feels the same way toward him. She has told him so and she has proven it with her actions but he also noticed that she holds back more than the woman he is courting is suppose to hold back but who is he to judge? She got raped, to be blunt, twice. Any trust she had towards men were probably gone and Damon had come to the conclusion that she was keeping her distance because of this. His best guess was that she was not really to truly allow herself to feel. If it were him, he would not. He would take things slow and steady moving forward only when there was a signal to do so because he would not want to get hurt. He wouldn't want to put his heart on display and risk getting it crushed. But he knew Elena would not do this to him. He knew that for a fact, he had already gathered that tidbit of information but he did not know if she gathered that about him. Surely she knows that he loves her. She does. And surely she knows that he would never do anything to hurt her. To an extent, yes. Damon slowly put the pieces together bit by bit every now and then but he can never fully understand her actions. She's a puzzle that will take a while to finish. She feels the way she feels because of what happened to her. Nobody else but her. He will wait. He will wait for her to open up to him and Damon understands that completely. He already has her love, he just needs her commitment and complete trust and that's something he would wait forever for if that meant she would be his.

"And you are the only guy I want." She honestly answered. There was no question to this. She did not have to make herself believe that she loved Damon. That fact was well-known.

"You would never believe how happy it makes me to hear you say that." He whispered into her ear, the smile she loved still plastered on his flawless face.

"I intend to keep making you happy or to at least try." Slightly smiling she shrugged.

"I have no doubt you will forever be able to do that." He kissed her hair once more. "Now, go get your rest. We have a magical night tomorrow night and you need your beauty rest. I have to run into town for father tomorrow afternoon so I may not see you until the evening. We will leave around dusk, I'll meet you here." Both of them leaning toward each other the same time, they both received a heart warming kiss.

"I simply can not wait. Goodnight Damon." She turned around half skipping.

"Goodnight beautiful" He said.

* * *

><p>Damon was in town, running the few errands his father had asked him to do left on a piece of parchment. He had to deliver a couple letters, and he had to pick up a few packages. But before he left he had an idea. He went to the town's only flower shop greeting the florist.<p>

"Good afternoon." He smiled.

"Good afternoon, what may I help you with today?" She smiled back.

"Well I have been invited to a ball that is tonight and I have invited a very special woman. I have no idea what kind of dress she is wearing but I would like to get her a corsage with a matching boutonnière for me as well."

She placed her index finger between her lips nibbling on her nail before removing it and smiling before disappearing behind her counter. "I think I have just the thing."

She returned seconds later with a two white Gerber daisies with jewels in the center. Simple, but elegant and beautiful. It was just the thing for Elena. "This would go perfectly with anything she or you decided to wear." She added.

"Well I'm just wearing a black tuxedo so anything would match me. Those flowers are very nice. I'll have the set."

* * *

><p>It was now just a few short hours before Elena would be leaving the house with Damon to go to the Lockwood's for the ball of the year. She was beginning to get nervous. Not really because of meeting new people but because of Damon. She wanted to look her best for him. She had already bathed and her hair was finally dry contained in her rollers. Removing them, bouncy curls released themselves falling to the places they were destined to lay. She pinned the front of her hair from her face pulling it back and creating a waterfall braid that twisted itself around her head blending in with her curls. Elena always loved to try new things with her hair and she had wanted to show this hairstyle off for a while now and tonight will finally be her chance.<p>

Next, she moved onto her make which she hardly spent any time on. She liked the natural look so she settled on a little blush accompanied by her favorite nude-shade lipstick.

Glancing at her reflection in the mirror for a moment, she was pleased with how she looked and began rooting through her wardrobe in search for the perfect dress settling on her new ivory tulle strapless gown. It had floral tuffs at the neckline and a voluminous ruffled skirt that stood out but wasn't too outrageous for the occasion. It was corseted at the back which took longer to do up than she thought. She accessorized her outfit with matching ivory shoes and her ruby necklace that her parents had given her for her sixteenth birthday. Looking in the mirror, she twirled and giggled. She hoped to catch Damon's attention. After all, this was all for him.

* * *

><p>Damon too was getting ready in his room. However, it did not take him quite as long to get ready. He got dressed into his black tux with a white pin-striped vest in no time. Then he applied his tie and his boutonnière while slipping Elena's cased corsage in his pocket.<p>

Him and Elena were more alike than they knew. He was nervous for tonight's upcoming soiree as well. Not nervous about going there because he's met everybody numerous times but he was attending it with Elena Gilbert.

This led Damon to wonder if his father knew about them. He had hardly seen Giuseppe for the last couple of weeks. He was on business trips or he locked himself in his office, working all hours in the night not bothering to come out. He would rarely be to any of the meals the same time as they would but when he did see Giuseppe, he and Elena were always together. He wondered if his father was going to attend the ball tonight. More so than not; he did because he would have social drinks with all of the older adults.

If his father were going, he would tell him then. If not, he would tell him the next time he seen him.

Pacing back and forth, Damon's thoughts erupted into ones of Elena before heading out to escort her.

* * *

><p>Elena was already at the bottom of the stairs, staring out the window at the beautiful scenery and it had calmed her down immensely, leaving her nervous thoughts behind her. She watched the colours intensify their reds, oranges and yellows as the giant sphere became only half visible. Consumed in the view, she did not notice Damon's presence until he arms were wrapping around her waist and his lips touching her cheek.<p>

"You must be deep in thought" He teased.

"I just got lost in thought looking at the sunset, it's beautiful." They continued to look out the window together.

"Yes it is beautiful" Damon added. "But I possess the most beautiful thing on this planet and she is standing in my arms." Elena turned around to face him, a large smile upon her face and her cheeks rosier than usual.

"This is why I love you." She snuggled into him, he head resting between his neck and his chest. "You are simply amazing, Damon Salvatore."

"I am only who you have made me Elena." He kissed her forehead before pulling away from their embrace. "I have something to match that ravishing dress of yours. You look breathtaking tonight, Elena." Smirking while watching her become redder, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the little black box that held the corsage.

A confused expression came over her face. "What is it?"

Her question was answered when Damon took the white Gerber daisy out of the box and placed it around Elena's wrist. "Something simple and elegant to add to your perfection."

"We both match" She stated, just realizing Damon also had a white Gerber daisy attached to his tux.

"Yes we do. I want people to know you are mine. I want them to know we are together." Linking his fingers with hers.

Smiling she simply said "I think it is about time to leave. Are you ready to escort me, Mr. Salvatore?" And curtsied.

"I am indeed ready to escort you Ms. Gilbert." He said while laughing.

* * *

><p>Arriving at the Lockwood's, Damon and Elena took heed of all of the people that were actually there, especially Elena. There were dozens of carriages arriving and leaving, many people were not even indoors; they were just mingling and having a drink on the front yard, and on the foyer. They made their way to the door, almost reaching it before somebody came up to them. A young man and woman, they were somewhere between Elena and Damon's age perhaps younger. The young man was a handsome man, with dark fine hair and brown eyes. The young woman was very beautiful. She was blond, had blue eyes and had curly shiny hair that was pinned away from her face.<p>

"Damon, it's been so long." The young man hugged Damon, both of them smiling.

"Yes it has been." He agreed before turning toward the young girl who looked like she was starving for his attention. It didn't make Elena jealous because she was with the other man and Elena was the one with Damon but she could not help but chuckle at her bubbly personality that had already started to show.

"Caroline, I haven't seen you in forever." She launched in and pulled him into a hug.

"I know, it's been weird around here not seeing you."

Damon cleared his throat at the awkwardness of Caroline's words. "I would like you to meet Elena Gilbert, she is staying with us." He grabbed her hand and shot a quick smile to her.

"Pleasure to meet you , I'm Tyler Lockwood." He grabbed her free hand, kissing it.

"It is so nice to meet you Elena, I'm Caroline Forbes." Caroline quickly pulled Elena into a hug as if they had known each other forever. "We are going to be great friends."

Laughing Elena pulled away. "It's been a pleasure to meet the both of you."

"We have to go and greet more guests. Thanks for coming and we will see you later." Tyler said before grabbing Caroline's hand and walking away.

Caroline turned around while still walking. "We will talk later Elena. Bye!"

"See you later" Elena and Damon both said at the same time then they looked at each other and laughed before entering the house- or the mansion.

"That went well." Damon half questioned still laughing.

"It did, yes" Elena agreed. "Tyler Lockwood must be the son of the people who hosted this party. Damon nodded "And Caroline seems quite friendly."

Damon scrunched up his mouth. "Well, Caroline has a very bubbly personality in case you have not noticed. But she has a heart of gold and you too are very alike in some ways. I believe what she said. You two are going to get along just fine."

Elena's eyes twinkled and her mouth twisted into a smile. She had never had a very close friend that was a girl before. She knew a couple girls that were daughters of her parents' friends but she never had a best friend. "I think so too." She gleamed.

* * *

><p>The evening was going great, better than expected actually. Elena met many new people that Damon introduced to her including The Saltzman's, Caroline's parents, Tyler's parents, the Bennett's and their daughter, Bonnie and many other friendly people that resided in Mystic Falls.<p>

Elena grew fond of one in particular though, Caroline Forbes. Damon was right. She was so friendly, kind and compassionate that Elena was with her most of the night. While Damon and Tyler were fetching drinks and mingling with the crowd, Caroline and Elena sat down and became acquainted.

"So Elena what brings you to reside in Mystic Falls?" Caroline asked not knowing that it was a touchy subject for Elena.

"Well… my parents died. I had nobody else back home and Giuseppe was my parent's friend for many years. He was the only one I could turn to."

Caroline's hand flew to her mouth. "Elena, I am so sorry. I had no idea." She somberly apologized.

Elena patted her new friend on the shoulder. "No need to apologize, you had no idea. It gets easier. The Salvatore's are helping me a lot."

The blond girl's eyebrows shot up and she winked. "What is between you and Damon anyway? I see the way you look at each other."

Elena giggled. "I'm sure it is not to your surprise but we are together. Ever since he has gotten home from war he has done nothing but be kind to me. I couldn't help but fall in love with him."

Caroline nodded understandingly "Damon is—well now was I guess you could say one of the most eligible bachelor's in town. He's handsome, charming, kind, and sincere and he went to war. Most women are attracted to that. I know I was."

"Really?" Elena laughed.

"Yes really." She answered, laughing along with her. "Before he went to war, I tried so hard to get him to notice me but he never. When he went to war, I was upset that he did not notice me but then Tyler did. We haven't been together long but I love him.

I do not think that Damon ever had somebody before you came along. He always kept to himself never getting too close to anybody, boy nor girl. You are a lucky one; I did not think he would open up to anybody."

Elena smiled at this fact. "I know, I am very lucky."

Their conversation was cut short by Damon and Tyler's appearance. Damon looked at Elena, offering his hand. "Would you like to dance, malady?"

Elena couldn't help but giggle. "It would be my honor."

* * *

><p><strong>Let me know what you think and send a review my way :) <strong>


	11. Flames so intense

__**Hey everyone :)**

**Really quick update I know. I just started writing this tonight and I will admit, it isn't much but I want next chapter all to itself. This chapter is mainly dialogue, I hope you guys don't mind. :) Let me know what you think all the same and I will have the hopefully very wanted next chapter up within a week or so :) **

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries._**  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em>I do not think that Damon ever had somebody before you came along. He always kept to himself never getting too close to anybody, boy nor girl. You are a lucky one; I did not think he would open up to anybody."<em>

_Elena smiled at this fact. "I know, I am very lucky." _

_Their conversation was cut short by Damon and Tyler's appearance. Damon looked at Elena, offering his hand. "Would you like to dance, malady?"_

_Elena couldn't help but giggle. "It would be my honor."_

* * *

><p>Damon led her out to the middle of the room, the music began as did their dancing. Getting lost in each other's presence they began to sway to the music, getting lost in each other's touch and delicacy. Their eyes locked and there was instantly nobody else in the room, at least nobody that mattered to them but one another.<p>

Elena responded to Damon's hand on the small of her back as well as he responded to her hand wrapped around his neck; their bodies warming up to each other's touch. Their other free hands locked together held upright away from their faces leading their dance.

They were unaware of exactly how much time had gone by but it couldn't have been long because the band's song was just coming to an end. They pulled away from each other slowly, not wanting to leave each others realms of security, warmth and desire but did so anyway. Their eyes still locked, Elena smiled, and curtsied which was followed by Damon delicately kissing her on the hand and then on the cheek before making their way back to Caroline and Tyler who were staring at them with expressionless faces.

"Come here." Tyler motioned Damon. "Let's grab a couple of drinks for us and the ladies."

"I chant be long." Damon whispered into Elena's ear before kissing her head as she sat down.

"Okay." She smiled back.

Elena turned her attention back toward her new friend who was basically bobbing out of her seat.

"Caroline, what's the matter?" Elena laughed.

"That was unbelievable. We were watching the two of you the entire time and not once did you take your eyes off of each other."

Elena began to open her mouth to speak but was abruptly cut off by Caroline once again.

"It was so lovely. You really adore each other. I can see it. I know for sure now." She gleamed.

"I told you." Elena exclaimed, getting butterflies from knowing somebody noticed her and Damon's attraction toward each other.

"Well yes. But it was hard to believe that Damon opened up. I watched him and the way he eyed you!" She shook her head giggling quietly before taking a sip of her beverage. "He looked at you like you were the only girl on this planet."

Elena eyed the drink in front of her suspiciously before responding back to her friend. "I think he cares a great deal for me. I know I care a great deal for him." Giving her friend one more smile she placed her hands firmly on the table. "Caroline?" She looked up. "How much have you had to drink so far this evening?"

"Not that much." Emphasizing the middle word. "This is only the fourth one that Tyler had gotten for me." She stated as-a-matter-of-factly as if it were the most common thing in the world.

"Let me taste that." Caroline tried to object but Elena had managed to take the drink and grab a sip before she could do anything about it. Elena screwed up her face at the strong taste of vodka. "Gosh Caroline. Four of those are enough to make anybody a little tipsy."

"What makes you think I am tipsy?" The blonde girl asked.

"The way you are talking to me." Elena replied.

"I am always open like this." She explained. "I will admit. I feel a little good because of the drinks but I like you. I like Damon and I see you two happy together. I just wanted to share how much I am happy for the two of you." She grabbed her chocolate hair friends hand and squeezed it.

"Thank you Caroline." Elena squeezed back. "It means so much to me, I'm really happy for once. You and Tyler seem to be doing fine as well?" She half stated, half questioned.

"I love him." Caroline claimed. "But by the looks of it, our love is not nearly as strong as yours."

"Well you do not know that." Elena started.

"Caroline does not know what?" Damon chimed in. He kissed her on the cheek before seating himself beside her. Tyler followed and did the same next to Caroline.

"Nothing." Elena smiled. "We were just having some girl talk."

Damon and Tyler exchanged glances before both of them shrugging. "Here is your drink, malady." He placed the clear beverage in front of her.

"Thank you." She nodded. "I hope you did not mix it too strong." She warned.

"Nonsense Elena." He placed his hand at his chest. "How could you think so low of me?" He pretended to be hurt before laughing.

* * *

><p>What drink was it? The group had lost count. Damon and Tyler had made numerous trips, each time bringing back one more drink for their ladies. Caroline and Elena had opened up quite a bit as the night progressed. Whispering each other secrets in between their time alone they had learned quite a bit about each other.<p>

Damon and Elena had continued to dance every few songs but after a while they began stepping on each other's toes and swaying in the wrong direction which forced them to stop trying.

After one too many drinks, Elena finally decided enough was enough. Attempting to stand, and failing she told them "I should best be going. It is late."

Damon tried to help her stand straight and with struggle he managed to do so. "I agree with Elena. I think it is time we call it a night."

"Sounds fine with me." Tyler said while snuggling into Caroline's shoulder.

"Come on you big teddy bear." She giggled. "Get me home."

Tyler pointed toward her in shock. "Do you see this? She is expecting me to take care of her." Laughing he managed to get her standing and they left after saying their goodbyes.

"Now who is going to help who?" Damon teased.

"I think we are both going to need to help each otherrrr." Elena purred seductively.

"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Damon being drunk, decided to go along with whatever game she was playing.

They made it out of the house rather briskly and easily. Hands linked together, they both made their way to the nearest carriage, Damon being the one to speak to the driver.

"Excuse me, sir. Are you waiting on anybody in particular?"

The middle aged man in a long black trench coat shook his head. "I was just ordered by Mr. Lockwood to make sure all of his guests arrived home safe and sound, Mr. Salvatore. Would you and Miss…" He trailed off unaware of her name.

"Gilbert" She corrected.

He nodded. "Would you and Miss Gilbert like a lift back to your estate?"

"Yes sir." Damon nodded. "That would be most kind of you."

Damon opened up the carriage door for Elena and offered his hand, helping to get her into the carriage before following behind her.

And the silence was golden. It had taken minutes before either of them spoke. Both thinking that the other had fallen asleep on the ride. Damon being the first to test out their theory, he leaned in next to Elena's ear and whispered huskily. "I love you, Elena."

"I love you Damon" She whispered back, just as seductively. This caused him to become brave thus he started kissing her jaw-line. He then trailed down her neck placing soft wet kisses upon her slender part making his way down to her collar bone. Her response was obviously. Her breathing became more heavy and noticeable as she sighed happily with every kiss causing Damon's want for her to grow more.

Damon began to harden at her whimpers as he continued to kiss making his way now nearing her breasts that were half showing from the tightness of her corset. Her breathe never evening out, just continuing to pick up its pace. He could tell she liked this just as much as he was and his thoughts were confirmed when she took control and began kissing him hungrily on the lips. Her gentle hands not so gentle anymore, were grasping at his black hair making it tousled. Things began to heat up and Elena began trailing her kisses down his perfect jaw, down his neck and nibbling at his chest before frantically trying to undo his tie but his hand pulling hers away. "Not here, Elena." He panted. "We will soon be home."

The carriage came to a halt following by the driver's voice telling them they had arrived.

"Never mind." Damon whispered. "We are home." Elena continued kissing his neck for another moment before he pulled away. "Come on, we will take this inside." His eyes locked with her, both darkened from lust and desire. His were as blue as the sea and hers were so dark they looked black. All Elena managed to do was nod as she descended the carriage stairs.

Damon quickly thanked the driver for the both of them.

* * *

><p>They could not take it any more. They had already managed to keep quiet downstairs, going up the stairs and making their way through the hallway. Once they got to Damon's door he pushed her up against it, kissing her like her had never kissed anybody before. She responded to his touch immensely. He heated her whole body, from the top of her head to her toes. The alcohol in their system being some of the cause but they failed to notice this. Elena pulled him in closer, their bodies pressing up against one another now searching for each other's love. She could now feel him which caused her to be turned on even more. Intensifying their kiss even more, they opened the door while still locking lips, slipped in his room and closed the door behind them.<p>

**Please review :) **


	12. Acceptance, fun, and pleasure

_**Hey everybody. Hope this wasn't too long of a wait. Hold on I'll check..ten days. That isn't so bad is it? I'm currently on Easter break and I'm with my boyfriend for the week because he's away at college as I've probably used as an excuse before LOL. But he's currently studying and a couple of you have even messaged me asking for an update so I couldn't deny you amazing people any longer :3 **_

_**Thank you to everybody that has read this, left comments, alerted/favoured, etc. I love getting emails and seeing that :D **_

_**Also, if you see anything in my story that you think you should take me up on like errors, confusing sentences, anything at all please leave a review saying so. I love any kind of review even if it is constructive criticism because it's better than nothing :) **_

I'm trying to get into using twitter so follow me over there if you haven't done so. cdaye8184

Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own the Vampire Diaries.

* * *

><p><em>They could not take it any more. They had already managed to keep quiet downstairs, going up the stairs and making their way through the hallway. Once they got to Damon's door he pushed her up against it, kissing her like her had never kissed anybody before. She responded to his touch immensely. He heated her whole body, from the top of her head to her toes. The alcohol in their system being some of the cause but they failed to notice this. Elena pulled him in closer, their bodies pressing up against one another now searching for each other's love. She could now feel him which caused her to be turned on even more. Intensifying their kiss even more, they opened the door while still locking lips, slipped in his room and closed the door behind them.<em>

* * *

><p>Brains blurred, mouths muted, the only body part one hundred percent clear was their heart. Alcohol confused their thoughts along with the strong desire to feel one another, completely and entirely. Damon's tongue slid across Elena's lips demanding entry. Unable to resist, Elena parted her lips and felt Damon's warm wet tongue slide in and make a home next to hers, dancing with it and pushing against it battling for dominance over her mouth. His hands now made a home placed upon her jaws momentarily before moving into her hair, creating knots from the numerous times his fingers ran through it. Elena responded to this viscously, situating both of her hands around his neck tightly trying to pull him closer. Damon moaned as her body pressed up against his even tighter, pushing him hard against the wall.<p>

Elena eagerly tried to fumble with his tie managing to throw it on the floor before Damon's conscious kicked in. Still kissing, her hands were now working on the buttons of the tuxedo. Damon pushed against her lips with his giving her one last deep kiss before pulling away.

Panting, Elena starred at him dumbfounded "Damon? What's wrong?"

"Nothing" He replied shaking his head also trying to catch his breath. "We're drunk Elena. I don't want this to happen tonight, not like this. I want it to be special"

"And it will be special!" She pouted, her thoughts still clearly controlled by lust.

"I'm sorry Elena" He leaned in kissing her on the cheek. "Not tonight. But I have an idea. Head to your room, change out of that ball gown and into something more comfortable, preferably something you can swim in." He winked. "You and I are going to have a midnight swim at the falls and hopefully reclaim our full awareness."

"But-"She started, still unable to collect herself but he cut her off.

"No buts." He plainly said. "We are going to have fun. I promise. Go get ready. I will meet you there." Shooing her out of his room and into her own, he quickly changed and headed to the falls; disappearing into the darkness of the night.

She did not even attempt to argue, knowing that he had won the battle before it would have even begun so she obeyed his command and headed to her room to find something suitable to wear for their swim.

Taking longer than usual due to her slowed state, she finally decided on a pair of black lace pantalettes with her matching black straight seam corset that showed more than enough cleavage to catch Damon's attention.

* * *

><p>Both of them, at different times made their way towards the falls, each struggling to walk straight by themselves. It would have been smarter to have waited for each other but Damon got this silly idea that he wanted to arrive before Elena to surprise her. And so he did. When Elena parted the leaves of the willow tree, she did not see Damon at first. Her drunken state staggered along the rocks of the water scanning for any trace of Damon until her eyes halted upon his trousers. Taking the hint, her eyes moved toward the water scanning every inch of the blue shiny liquid that glistened by the light of the moon. Far in, over half way; swam Damon. He was backstroking his way peacefully through the silky water forming an ever more welcoming feeling for Elena. Giggling, she removed the remaining two articles of clothing she had left before placing her feet and then legs into the warm water.<p>

Her hear racing, she slowly edged herself further into the pond closing the distance between her and Damon as he continued to swim until he was along side of her.

She greeted him by wrapping her arms around him and climbing onto his waist while they still both hovered in the same spot.

"You are so beautiful" Damon exclaimed, his eyes trailing all over the parts of her body that he could see.

Her laugh warmed Damon's heart as it echoed through the night. "Thank you." She said, partly nervous of her naked state.

Damon noticing her discomfort, he cooed her. "Please don't be nervous" He brushed a stray piece of her wet hair away from her face gently trailing his finger back and forth from her temple to her jaw-line. "You really do look unbelievable."

"I haven't done anything like this before". She warned him.

"Nor have I" He said. "This is just as new to you as it is to me. I know that we haven't taken things quite as slow as I would have originally planned but to be frank, I do not think it is necessary. I know I love you" He smiled before continuing. "And I think that you love me."

"I do." She whispered.

"This is going to be strange but we will discover it together. There is no need to be nervous about your exposure. You are the most amazing thing that my eyes have ever registered. There is no reason for you to be nervous about us either." He brought his hand to hers, linked their fingers and squeezed tightly. "You can trust me." His promise having many different meanings.

"I do." She solemnly said swearing to herself, disregarding the weariness she felt towards their relationship for the past while. Her mind was slowly regaining its full awareness, finally capable of thinking clearly. The way he was treating her, diminished every doubt she had about him. He had proven time and time again that he was not going anywhere. He had time to prove that he would not harm her. He had convinced Stefan, his brother to leave his home for her protection; little did she know Damon managed to do so through blackmail but that was not important.

At first, her mind was obligated to making her be weary of him- the perfect man. The god. He seemed too perfect and he had fallen for her just as easily as she had fallen for him. At first she thought it had to be too good to be true did it not? Nobody had ever given her such attention. Nobody had cared or protected her before with all of their might and yet, Damon had. He had shown her love as much as she tried to ignore it and now she was finally surrendering. Surrendering to her destiny, it was not something that could be controlled, her love for Damon. She had to stop fighting it and now she will. Elena released every bit of tension from her inner self, consciously promising herself to open up to him as much as he deserved which would be for her to open her entire self up to him, unconditionally and securely. She knew right now, there was no turning back and this caused her to smile.

And she had shown him love. He had yet to know what it felt like before Elena Gilbert waltzed into town, into his home. She had him at hello; his first glance was basically love at first sight, had he known what the remarkable emotion felt like at the time. He just needed her complete love which he was about to start receiving.

Elena feeling slightly embarrassed by what she attempted to do earlier in the night shrugged off the feeling. She was ready to take it to the next level with Damon, be it all the way or just a little fun. She crashed her lips on his, kissing him like her life depended on it and he took no time hesitating before he followed her league kissing her back just as hungrily.

Their already nude bodies pushed up against each other, banishing any bit of skin that had not yet collided with the other. Damon's hardness grew and grew brushing up against Elena's leg from the buoyancy of the water. She took no time acknowledging it before she firmly grasped it and began stroking up and down causing Damon to gasp.

"What are you doing?" He whispered against her lips still kissing as needy as before, their lips definitely swelled from the contact and force.

"Is that a trick question?" She contorted, giggling against his mouth continuing to pleasure him with her hands slowly and then quickening her pace increasing Damon breath.

His hand broke free of her free hands grasp and gently trailed its way down her breast, cupping them and feeling them all over before moving downward to her abdomen and eventually her nether region. His novice fingers teasing her by sweeping across her folds but he was unable to feel her wetness because of the water. Slowly, he positioned his index finger at her entrance before placing it inside of her and wiggling it around—the only thing he knew to do. He must have been doing something right for her breathe to hitch and then speed up; her moans escaping her lips and getting transported over into his.

Both of them still committing their actions, they began to move toward shore; in need to feel one another more thoroughly.

Upon feeling the land, they broke apart momentarily to ring out their hair, in Elena's case and to shake off like a dog in Damon's.

"Lay down." Damon commanded.

"Why?" She questioned.

"Just do it." He said, and she lay on the grass.

He immediately sat down beside of her kissing her lips briefly before trailing his kisses to her neck, her collarbone, her chest, and eventually further south. He was now kneeling between her legs whilst kissing her lower abdomen and continuing to move downward intentionally avoiding her core and moving right onto her inner thighs making her squirm with desire. He was torturing her and he knew it. Her averted eyes finally bore down at him to find a smirking Damon looking right at her.

"Damon." She began but he cut her off by silencing her.

His mouth finally rested where it was needed, on her extremely sensitive bud that had little to no experience with such erotic feelings. His tongue danced over her hood, lapping at it causing her to squirm, whimper and squeal all that much more. He was thankful because he had no freaking idea what he was even doing.

Taking it to the next level he took his hand that was not accompanying his tongue and placed his index finger inside of her once again. This time, to discover how wet she truly was for him. As time progressed and his movements quickened, he added his middle finger as well to which Elena let out a mind-bellowing noise of pleasure causing him to smirk again.

"How does this feel?" He asked her, already knowing the answer.

"Amaz-z-ing." She stuttered.

"I can tell." He smiled. "I'm glad I can pleasure you." He winked before looking back down at her body.

Without any sign of what he was about to do, Damon's tongue slipped inside of her bringing her to an entirely new height. His fingers reversed roles and began rubbing her hood, not too slow but not too fast either.

He had no idea what to do with his tongue now. Was he supposed to just wiggle it around like before? Or was there a technique? He began wiggling it around inside of her, trying to capture every part of her that he could.

"How does this feel?" He asked quietly suddenly nervous.

She attempted to speak but no decipherable sentences or words were able to escape her lips so she settled on simply nodding her head rapidly. This was good enough of an answer for him as he continued to quicken his tongues pace and his fingers pace causing her hips to arch up involuntarily seeking for more contact but there was no more he could offer.

She moaned and sighed and if he were looking at her the entire time; he would have noticed that her eyes constantly rolled in the back of her head. She was a mess, unable to regain herself. She had no idea that somebody could pleasure her like this, she felt so connected to him and she didn't want it to end but she knew it soon would.

As if right on a queue she began experiencing a feeling that she hadn't yet ever felt. Her tummy tightened, her core was scorching and that also began to tighten around Damon's tongue, her walls trapping him in her. He too had no idea what was going on but he continued to please her, speeding up to the quickest pace he could, as fast as his tongue and fingers would move; he was doing it. Elena's hips trusted forward simultaneously before she finally burst into a scream, her hand flying to her mouth to drown out some of the noise. Her juices released more than they already had, basically dripping from her and they came in contact with Damon's mouth. He did not hesitate to lap them up slowing his pace at both areas and ending it with a soft kiss upon her bud before pulling back and looking at her.

"That was unbelievable." She exclaimed still breathing heavily.

"Really?" He asked, unsure if he had been satisfying enough.

"Yes." Elena assured him. "That was the best feeling I have ever experienced. Thank you." She sat up and gave him a quick peck on the lips before giggling and wiping her mouth with her hand.

"You are most certainly welcome, Elena." He smiled.

They both retrieved their clothes—well the lack of that they had to apply. Not knowing what time it was or how long that had been gone, they cautiously walked back toward the estate hand in hand.

"Does the alcohol still have an affect on you?" He asked turning and facing her.

"That was worn off ages ago." She replied. "I am sorry for how forward I was earlier this evening, that isn't me."

"There is no reason to explain yourself." He began. "I know you are not normally like that which is why I chose not to take your advice and decided to swim instead. You have to admit, I have good ideas" He winked.

"Very good ideas indeed." She agreed blushing. "I hope Mr. Salvatore did not notice our absence."

"I am certain that he never." Damon assured her. "He is quite the heavy sleeper. Once he lies down, it is guaranteed that he will not move until morning."

"Thank goodness. I wouldn't possibly know what to say if he had to catch us sneaking into the house like this—practically soaking wet." Elena frowned at their behavior. Love can make you do foolish and reckless things.

"It is hard to say what Giuseppe would say or do but we will not find out."

"We need to tell him soon. About us I mean." She quickly added.

"I know." Damon sighed. Would his father take it well? Or would he find it absurd because Elena was residing with them? There was only one way to find out.

"We should tell him tomorrow morning at breakfast if he joins us." Elena said worryingly. She knew that with her parents, they would have been happy for her to find such a gentle man but Giuseppe was not her father. He was her guardian and she fell in love with his son. What if Giuseppe seen Damon and Elena as being brother and sister more than being lovers? She silently prayed for his blessing.

"Okay." Damon said.

They continued to walk cautiously until they finally reached the back door of the Salvatore mansion. Slipping inside without being seen, they quickly headed up the stairs and towards their rooms. Damon followed Elena to the end of the hall to escort her to hers. "I will see you in the morning." He leaned forward kissing her hand and then kissing her lips softly as well.

"Goodnight Damon." She said before opening her door and slipping inside.

"Elena?" He whispered before she closed her door. She turned around at him with her eyebrows raised nodding her head forward acknowledging her name being called.

"I love you." Damon sweetly said expressing tenderness.

Her heart once again leapt up her throat as his powerful words. "I love you too, Damon." She beamed back before closing her door leaving a trigger happy Damon walking down the hall into his room, with a small still stuck upon his face.

Sleep was no obstacle or task that night. It both came naturally to them with smiles still plastered on their faces like children. They both had so much to be happy for. Elena finally opened her heart to Damon, even if it would take some getting used to and a while for her to do so. Damon had told her that he loved her and she had said it back, he was not expecting her to.

There was nothing that could ruin this love, nothing.

* * *

><p>AN: **Please review guys, it feeds my happiness :)**

**ALSO, check out the poll on my profile for my next vampire diaries fan ficiton. If anybody has any more ideas that they would love me to attempt to write, let me know and I'll gladly add it to the poll. :) Thanks!**


	13. Forgetting isn't the only sin

_**This isn't very long and I'm sorry but you will understand why I had to cut it off where I did. The story would have ended up being way longer than usual if I hadn't. I hope you enjoy this and it was worth the wait, more Delena will be up in the next chapter or two, a lot more :) **  
><em>

* * *

><p><em>There was nothing that could ruin this love, nothing.<em>

* * *

><p>For somebody who had barely had a wink of sleep the previous night, Damon awoke to the sun of a new day, peering in through his window lighting up his room with glorious brightness as awake as ever. He was practically gleaming, rising from bed with a smile and continuing his morning ritual with the same expression never leaving his flawless features. Wandering around his room while preparing himself for the day that lay ahead; his mind could not help but flicker to a certain somebody that made his heart skip countless beats over the past couple months. Thoughts of the night before caused his cheeks to flush as he remembered their drunken state, his outrageous idea to take a mid-night swim and their little sexual ordeal that had happened. Once past the embarrassment issue, happiness washed over him once again. Why would he feel embarrassed about being with Elena? By the time they had been together—to an extent; the alcohol was practically left their system so they had failed to do anything wrong.<p>

Although the situation itself was not a problem, Damon wondered how he and Elena would act around one another now. He hoped they would continue to bond and there would be many more endeavours like last night in the future—perhaps the near future but what happened would need to be talked about, sooner or later. Damon preferred the sooner solution and decided they would perhaps talk about it privately at breakfast if Giuseppe were not there. If so, they would just have to wait until later whenever they possessed some alone time.

Knowing it was far too early to even think about breakfast yet; Damon decided to head towards the stables and sent a little visit to his childhood best friend, Mezzanote. Elena took up most of his time lately, and Damon felt bad for neglecting his horse; he knew that Mezzanote missed him because as soon as she seen him, she neighed and began to gallop toward him. Patting her nose, he greeted her and apologized for not being around much lately. He then took some time to groom her before saddling her up. It was a tradition every time he would ride Mezzanote. She was a very well kept horse and she knew it. She was a very intelligent creature. Damon loved her. Getting lost in the beauty of the sunrise, Damon took Mezzanote through the forest of Mystic Falls all morning where it was just him and her, walking and galloping full speed; while she listened to her owner speak a foreign language about his love for the chocolate haired girl that she had briefly met.

* * *

><p>Nearing half past eight, Elena awoke to a full-blazing sun gleaming its rays into her room and spewing over the floor highlighting her disheveled ways of room cleanliness. She was confused and a little bothered. Why was her mind like a puzzle? There were pieces missing that she could yet recall. Elena yawned as sat up in bed, contemplating what had went on last night for there to be such a mess and why her mind was patchy.<p>

Elena remembered Damon's strong arms engulfing her from behind by surprise moments before he presented her with a flower to go well with her dress. He had caught her off guard as she stared out into the beauty of the landscape and she loved every second of it. But, a dress for what? Right, they had been invited to The Lockwood's annual ball and had agreed to go together. That much was as clear as crystal.

She had remembered meeting faces, so many faces that belonged to so many people. There were young faces, old faces, chubby faces, skinny faces, wrinkly faces, stressed faces, happy faces, and sad faces. A few of which she could remember the names that went along with them. She obviously had remembered the hosts of the party, Mr. and Mrs. Lockwood. They were a very high order family, along with their son, Tyler who was currently courting Lady Caroline Forbes. She remembered her reminiscing with Caroline about her family and her childhood as well as Caroline sharing her stories to Elena over the course of the night. From what she could still recall, she and Lady Caroline had become pretty close in a few short hours. Elena smiled at this; it was so rare for Elena to get along with another girl as well as that. It never happened. And although Lady Caroline was bubbly, kind of dumb and very obnoxious she was as sweet as pie and had a heart of gold and that, was what Elena remembered being fond of.

A memory of Damon and Elena dancing together flashed before her eyes. It was just him in her vision. He lead her to the dance floor before gracefully taking her hand in one arm and the small of her back in the other and leading the dance. Everything and everyone behind him were inconspicuous, nothing more than a blur of faces and vibrant colors. He was all she could see, gleaming back at her with those perfect, pearl-like teeth. His mouth was so welcoming and his breath was so sweet. The more she thought back to the sweet memory, the more vivid it became and she was able to visualize and feel it as if it was happening all over it. She sighed as the amazing memory to add to her collection of her and Damon.

An uncatchable memory flew past her, not knowing which part of the night it occurred at or where it occurred. It was dark; she knew that much but her vision was unable to focus on the background. She had just remembered that Damon had said three tiny words to her. Three tiny words that made her heart go off its normal course. Three small words that had the affect to change or destroy her world, but those three small words she retorted back to him instantly last night. She was sure she meant them. The look on Damon's face last night from her saying it back was priceless and in that instant, she was glad she said it.

She remembered the four, sat down having sociable drinks, one, two, three, four, and five? No, there had definitely been more than five. Damon and Tyler kept bringing them back to the girls, how did she let herself drink so much? It must have been a hell of a night to have trouble remembering what happened, that was for damn well sure. _Oh crap._ The last thing Elena could remember was whispering seductively in Damon's ear and leaving the party, nothing more. Nothing less.

Feeling nervous about her incognito actions, she occupied herself with getting ready for upcoming breakfast with Damon, maybe Mr. Salvatore. She would act as if everything was normal and hopefully there was nothing more to the nights actions other than she remembered. There was no way she would do anything inappropriate with Damon anyway, was there? Elena Gilbert was not that kind of girl. _No,_ she reassured herself. Gulping, she got lost in getting ready while her thoughts to no surprise made their way to Damon Salvatore and his cerulean colored eyes.

* * *

><p>They were actually sharing their meal with Giuseppe. Elena had arrived just before Damon had, after she waited for him to knock on her door but the knock did not arrive so she made her way to the dining hall, alone to be greeted by her guardian and a full table of fruit, croissants, freshly squeezed juice and tea.<p>

Being seated by the elder figure, he made no hesitation to commence talking with Elena right after he told her to help herself with the food.

"Did you enjoy yourself last night?" He asked joyfully while pouring up a glass of orange juice for both him and Elena.

"Oh yes." She nodded eagerly taking the juice from him. "Thank you." She said regarding his generosity. "Very much so, sir. I met most of the town and I got close with a couple last night. Everybody is so friendly here in Mystic Falls."

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself Elena. It is about time that you do." He nodded. "Mystic Falls is a friendly town if I do say so myself." He added in between bites. "I am glad you enjoyed yourself dear, it seems my sons company does not bore you as much as I would have normally thought." He stated, with a questionable change in tone toward the end which Elena caught up on instantly. He was surprised she was getting along with Damon. Well, wouldn't he like to know just how comfortable they were?

"Not at all, sir. Damon has been such a gentleman since I've arrived. Damon and I have gotten to know each other quite well. I really enjoy his presence." Elena smiled coyly to the father in front of her. The butterflies from talking about his son had erupted in Elena's belly sometime during that short compliment she had given him. She loved the way even just talking about him made her feel. She was love struck and she knew it.

"Well." Giuseppe started before taking a bite of a croissant "That is interesting. My son is rather quiet a bore when you get to know him." He looked down at his hands on the table as they made tight fists in front of her. "And a bit of a disappointment might I add. He is selfish; I'm surprised he has gotten close to you. With Stefan gone, it would be in your best interest to stay away from Damon and find some new friends in town." He quietly trailed along sternly.

"Sir, I do not mean to sound disrespectful or rude but—"Elena was cut off by Damon walking through the archway with the trademark smirk she both hated and loved stuck to his face. She loved it because it made him seem devilish. She could not put her finger on why she did not like it though. Perhaps it was because it made him look slightly brazen. She was glad that he had walked in when he did. She was just about to disprove of Giuseppe's opinion toward his son which probably would have started a ruckus between the two, perhaps three occupants of the household which neither of them needed. She did not think that through and it would have been so irresponsible of her to question Giuseppe's authority. Elena knew that was where she would have taken it, had she had the chance to argue with him. Damon and Giuseppe fought much less since Elena arrived, mainly because they did not see much of each other but it still counted and Elena was happy for them. She could tell Damon was happy as well. He talked less bad toward his father as time progressed which showed Elena he was beginning to lighten up. Also, Elena was quite fond and grateful for Giuseppe. It would be dishonoring on her part, in her parents eyes; if she catechized the man that had willingly welcomed her into his home with no questions asked. She would forget about what she had in mind and would bite her tongue, for her own sake and probably for Damon's as well.

"What is going on in here?" Damon questioned, taking a seat next to Elena and throwing her a look that she could not quite pick out the reasoning for. It was sly; as if he were trying to share a inside moment between them that she could not recall which only stirred an uneasy feeling within her. He knew something was up, she would have blushed, cleared her throat, she would have done something but she showed no sign of caring about last night. Brushing it aside, Damon began eating with the other two beings making small talk with his father and sneaking in glimpses of Elena here and there in between conversation trying not to look disappointed.

Not knowing what had overcome him, Damon had this strong rebellious sense to tell his father about him and Elena. They had yet to discuss when they would do it, besides the time they said it would be soon. What better time than now? Giuseppe was always working nowadays and after this morning, they might not see him for perhaps a week. _There's no time like the present._ Damon thought to himself before spilling the beans about him and Elena, which would or would not, end well.

"Father, I have some news." Damon started which earned a curious look from both Giuseppe and Elena.

"And what might that be, _son_?" He returned back sarcastically still eating. Giuseppe was a chubby man, anybody could tell that he ate his fair share of food at meals.

"I have met someone." He simply said with a smile growing from ear to ear. Elena's heart nearly jumped up her throat as she struggled with keeping her orange juice within her mouth. _No, no, no,_ she thought. Why hadn't Damon discussed this with her? She was not ready to tell his father. It only took another couple seconds for Elena's cheeks to redden, her heartbeat to speed up and her skin to get clammy which was unnoticed by both Damon and Giuseppe.

"That is wonderful news, Damon." His father half heartedly smiled. "I am actually surprised that somebody other than yourself can put up with the likes of you. She must be a rather foolish child."

This caused Damon to smirk. "She is actually quite intelligent. She is very bright." Damon thought for a moment. "Why don't you ask her yourself what she see's in me. I am sure she would have a wonderful answer for you." He hissed.

"How am I supposed to do that? I have yet to even meet the girl. I don't know if I want to. She must be an idiot for falling for you. You have nothing going for you other than your looks and if she is as bright as you say, she would look beyond that and realize you for the fool you really are. The coward of a son that I raised. I am ashamed of you" Giuseppe was now speaking very loudly, Elena felt very uncomfortable now from Giuseppe's words and Damon was just rather pissed off. "I wish you were more like Stefan. He's the perfect son. It is a pity he ran out on us, I would much rather it were you that left.

"It would be no trouble for you to ask her." Damon spat back pretty calmly considering how negligently he was speaking about his own son. "Because she is looking you right in the eye and listening to you call her down to the dirt."

* * *

><p><strong>Please review and remember to check out my poll for my next upcoming story and be sure to vote :) <strong>


	14. One problem solved but one remains

There is no apology I can give for my longer than usual absence other than school and getting caught up in to many amazing Delena stories leaving me unable to focus upon my own. I had intended for this chapter to sort out the whole drunk-amnesia ordeal but that will have to wait until next chapter so it still remains, as the title of this chapter will inform you ;)

I am very pleased with the response of this story, there's so many people following me along in the journey that I can not thank you all enough. With that, I am pleased to announce that I am going to begin my third fan fiction within a week or so, but the updates will not be as quick as this story. In four weeks time, I had 6 exams coming up, three of which are public's but as soon as summer roles round, I'd aim for quicker updates. I can not hold off that story idea any longer, I have so many thoughts for it, I think it is going to be a good one. **Spoiler: **It is going to be my attempt at writing a sad romantic Delena story, one filled with pain, suffering but the strongest cure of all; love. If that didn't give it away, my poll voters will know it's the story about Damon, the cancer doctor. That's all I'm going to say. I will let you all know when the chapter get's uploaded, it will probably be around the same time as this one's next update.

I'm probably going to screw myself over with two stories, needless to say I do not care. :) Sorry for the rant, I love you all 3

_Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries. _

* * *

><p>"<em>It would be no trouble for you to ask her." Damon spat back pretty calmly considering how negligently he was speaking about his own son. "Because she is looking you right in the eye and listening to you call her down to the dirt."<em>

* * *

><p>Flustered and speechless, Giuseppe looked from Elena back to Damon and then back to Elena before mumbling a simple "What?"<p>

"I think you heard me loud and clear, father." Damon quietly answered back, his voice filled with confidence.

His father's gaze was turned away from him and back toward the girl once again. "Elena dear, is this true?" There was sternness in his voice but it also had a hint of something else, uncertainly.

"Yes." Elena whispered looking down at her silverware, fumbling with it.

It took Giuseppe some moments to calculate his thoughts before deciding to continue on with the conversation. "How long has this been going on?" He asked while his eyes were focused back upon his sons.

"Since she arrived, minus the first three weeks or so." Damon estimated.

It appeared now to the younger couple that Giuseppe was not even paying attention to Damon's words. He was looking down at his plate, toying with his food. There was a look plastered upon his face that let them know he was in deep thought. His skin was pale and his eyes seemed more dilated than normal.

Damon and Elena exchanged worried glances while waiting for the elder of the house to say something, anything. Damon could tell Elena was worried, frightened even but for some reason, something overcomes of him and he, unfortunately blurted without talking to Elena about it. He knew he should not have done it, and he felt bad now watching her fidget and stay completely still in her chair, not to mention how uncomfortable she looked.

Elena still was a little angry because of Damon's spontaneous little confession. He could have at least discussed it with her. That way, she could have better prepared herself. She would have known what to say to Giuseppe, but now; her mind was blank. She had no idea what to say to the man nor did she have any idea how he was taking this and it frightened her. She had nowhere else to go other than the Salvatore estate. There is no place she would rather be than with the Salvatore's—well with Damon. She had no idea what she would do if Giuseppe kicked her out or even disagreed with their relationship. He was her guardian and her lover's father. Of course his opinion mattered to them. Elena silently prayed that Giuseppe would not take this harshly but would instead, give them his blessing and be happy for the young couple.

"I have no idea what to say to you right now." Giuseppe answered honestly. "I do not know if I can tell the two of you that I support this because I am not sure if I do. I know that is what you want to hear, but sadly I am not going to give in. Damon, you are my son. Elena is the daughter of my best friend, god bless his heart. And now, legally that makes me her guardian which allows me to have complete control over her actions." He set aside his silverware and sat up straight as he could in the dining chair. "Grayson would have wanted me to decide what was best for Elena, at all times and Damon, you are not what is best for Elena. I can list off a bunch of reasons why." He held up his hand, counting each reason on his finger. "You are a coward. You are not worthy of love, or to have anybody love you. You do not deserve to have the right to condemn this child's life to a misery with you.

I will not tolerate it. I know I haven't gotten to know you well yet Elena but you are like the daughter that I never had. I am obligated to look out for you and if that means not allowing you with my son, then so be it because I am not." He stated as-a-matter-of-factly.

"Mr. Salvatore, I beg you to reconsider and listen to both of our thoughts before you make your decision." Elena began her mind incapable of processing anything else besides his words. He had the power to keep her and Damon away and by the sounds of it, he was planning on doing just that. "Your son makes me happy. He is better than you think. Let him show you." The girl begged with desperation obviously visible throughout her voice.

"Elena." He cooed. She looked up at the man with what could only be described as pure fear. Her huge chocolate eyes glistened as the tears threatened to fall and interrupted his speech. He needed to hear her out. He had to. "I love your son. Your son makes me happy Mr. Salvatore. My parents would have wanted what is best for me yes. I agree with you completely on that." She nodded her head causing the water droplets to finally release from her eyes. They began to flow down her now paler than usual cheeks like a slow-flowing waterfall. "Damon is what is best for me. He introduced me to love, and he makes me feel unbelievable happy whenever he's near."

Both parties engaged in the conversation were oblivious to the presence of whom they were talking about. He was completely and utterly in awe at Elena. She was arguing with his father, for him. Nobody had yet to stand up for Damon, ever. Elena Gilbert still managed to amaze him more and more with the passing of each long day. He would remember to thank her for this if she got through to Giuseppe. He would thank her every day for the rest of his life.

Coming back to reality, Damon realized he hadn't heard what Elena had been saying.

"… there's no better person for me sir." She finalized. "And with all do respect, I am not backing down without a fight and I am pretty certain I can speak on Damon's behalf when it concerns this as well, isn't that right Damon?" Her eyes finally acknowledging him, he simply nodded. "Precisely." She smiled toward the elder.

"Why Damon?" He spoke to himself almost inaudibly, leaving the couple unsure of how to respond. "Stefan is obviously the better choice for you, Elena. He is bright, courageous, handsome, charming. He possesses every quality that any woman finds attractive in a man."

"Stefan is smart, handsome and charming when he wants to be. I will not deny you there but he is not for me. He may be for some other woman, but not me. Damon possesses each and every trait you just named, plus more. He would be the perfect choice for a husband and I know there is nobody out other than him that I would rather have court me." Elena explained, her tears coming to an end as she gained the courage to speak more genuinely. "My parents were in love. I watched them fall in love with each other over and over again as each day of their life passed. They would want me to love my choice of person. My choice is Damon. He is the man I love and I do not see that changing anytime in the future." Taking a deep breath, she continued to attempt to change the man's opinion. "I know parents still have a say in whom their child courts, and you have been nothing less than a father to me since I have walked in to this house. But, mother always said I would always have my freedom when it came to love. Father felt the same way. All I ask Giuseppe, sir; is that you let me be happy with your son and allow us the freedom to be together. No matter what difference the two of you share, he will forever be your older son and someday you will realize how important his happiness is to you. I can make Damon happy. Please let me prove this to you." She pled leaving the men before her speechless.

Damon hardly had any time to process what Elena had just said before Giuseppe rose to his feet, dismissing himself from breakfast and from the conversation. "I will never agree with this relationship. My son will ruin you; you are a sweet young lady Elena. I would have thought you to be brighter than this." He trudged past the couple not bothering to glance at either one of them. "Do what the two of you want, only for Grayson and Miranda's sake. I do not support this." And with that, he left the young couple alone, speechless and dumbfounded.

"That did not go the way I had intended it to." Damon said, trying to avoid the awkward silence between them.

"No?" Elena retorted as sarcastically as she could manage. "What else did you expect? You did not even talk it over with me. I was not ready for him to find out just yet Damon!" She yelled.

"I am sorry, Elena." He voice was guilt ridden and she couldn't help but soften her gaze at him, allowing the corners of her mouth to curve into a smile, if only barely.

"What you did was wrong, Damon." She kept the angry façade a little while longer as she kept her stern expression and her strong voice. "When the time was right, we could have told Giuseppe, together. You just threw it at me suddenly, what was I supposed to do with that, huh?" She only received a shrug from him. " I am not going to lecture you because whatever I said worked leaving me and you in the clear, for now." Her face brightened and softened once more, her real smile finally surfacing.

Damon grabbed her face pulling her just a mere few inches away from his. "I am truthfully sorry, Elena. It was careless and stupid of me. Forgive me. Let me prove to you that everything you said about me was true. Let me love you Elena." They were both competent of what Damon was entailing. He wasn't just asking Elena to forgive him or to love him, he was asking her to let her guard down. He was asking her to finally let herself go and rid herself of the fear of getting hurt by him. She had proven by her words to Giuseppe that she loved Damon, she had even said it. There was no denying that.

"Damon I can't." Her words were stopped right then and there; he would not listen to any more than that. He put his finger to her mouth, silencing her.

"Yes you can, Elena. You said yourself no more than ten minutes ago that you loved me and I know you love me. I can feel it, I can see it, I can sense it. You do not need to be frightened of me, or with me. If I am as good as you praise me up to my father to me, let me be that guy. Let me meet your expectations, Elena. I can only do that if you let me love you unconditionally and you do the same with me. I want love, but only from you. I can not stand around head over heels for you if you do not return the affection. Love me, Elena." He begged. His blue eyes as vulnerable as ones could be. At this moment, he was frightened but he would not let it show. She had to decide right here and now.

Damon was half afraid. Afraid that she would back out and let him go. He knew that she was ready to be in a committed relationship, she had proved it time and time again.

Elena was incapable of saying or thinking anything beyond gibberish. He had put her on the spot and it was obvious what she was going to say. Everything that had said to Giuseppe was true; there was nobody else out there like her other than Damon. He filled her, he was the missing part of her, and her soul mate one would call it. That wall she had built up since Stefan's tortuous encounters had to be let down if she wanted to keep the man of her dreams. Letting her walls down would make her as vulnerable as Damon's eyes just were and Elena knew that that wouldn't a good thing. Damon would have her heart and soul at his fingertips; he would have the ability to crush her almost instantly. But he wouldn't and Elena knew this deep down. Her mind would not let her believe it but her heart did. And as the final moments of her decision making came to an end, Elena sided with her heart because the heart overpowers the mind, every single time.

_Love conquers all._

* * *

><p><strong>Let me know what you guys think, I know there are a whole bunch of silent readers out there. Voice yourself, leave me one measly review. Pretty please :) <strong>


	15. It falls into place, into one

**_AN_: Just a quick little author's note. This got put up way quicker than I had intended. I started writing around supper time today and had five pages wrote in 30 minutes and I just finished it in over the past hour. I think you guys will like this, it's a very happy chapter. **

**200 reviews as quickly creeping up around the corner, help me make it toward 200 and the lucky winner gets a say in the chapter after it is reached :) **

* * *

><p><em>Damon would have her heart and soul at his fingertips; he would have the ability to crush her almost instantly. But he wouldn't and Elena knew this deep down. Her mind would not let her believe it but her heart did. And as the final moments of her decision making came to an end, Elena sided with her heart because the heart overpowers the mind, every single time.<em>

* * *

><p>Guarded by the only walls that Elena had left to hide in, she paced her room to and fro trying to quicken the passing of time. After her and Damon finished their talk, Elena departed as did he but in different directions. He had to once again, go out into town tending to his father's one-way conversation about duties having simply no choice or say in the matter. He didn't even bother to argue, it wasn't worth it especially since what Giuseppe had found out earlier, he didn't want to risk throwing the old man into a temper tantrum so he just went with it. It had killed him to part from Elena though; he was hoping to make it up to her by enjoying the entire sunny day with her. So much for those plans. He'd make it up to her later this evening.<p>

She had absolutely nothing to do. She had been extra slow bathing, doing her hair and picking out an afternoon dress but hardly any time had slipped away. She then decided to take a stroll through the gardens, acknowledging every flower, every bush and every tree suddenly finding herself mesmerized in nature's beauty. Another couple hours had passed but by then it was only midday and she had run out of ideas so she settled on taking a short nap which stretched out longer than she had intended, waking up at sunset leaving her very little time to prepare for her evening with Damon.

After getting changed for the third time that day and touching up her hair, Elena was finally ready with time left to spare. She peeked out her window every now and again searching for Damon's carriage. She gazed off into the sunset, looking down the narrow gravel road with white picket fences on both sides and finally she seen it. The carriage. It was Damon's carriage. She wanted to greet him at the door, it would be just him, after all.

Scurrying out of her room as quickly as her thin legs could carry her she gracefully skipped down the hallway, down the stairs and to the front door where he was just entering. She greeted him by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him into a deep embrace. Snuggling her face in his neck she whispered, "I've missed you."

"I missed you too" He agreed placing a kiss on the side of her head before pulling away.

"How was town?" She asked still smiling.

"It was… town." He answered. "Father had me running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I managed to complete all his wishes though. Hopefully that put him in a better mood from the last time we saw him."

"He probably just needed time to cool down, Damon" Elena soothed while rubbing his arm.

"Yeah…" He trailed off before sweeping her off her feet and twirling her around in his arms. "Enough about my _dreadful _father, what do we have planned for this splendid evening?" Giving her a curious glace.

"Your guess is as good as mine" She replied still giggling and feeling a little dizzy from how quickly he had spun her. "All I know is on my calendar Damon Salvatore is scheduled from now until bedtime. It's your decision what you want us to do." She winked placing very vivid memories of last night into his head. Memories that he was sure she did not remember. If she did, she would have said something, done something by now but no. Nothing. It was beginning to drive him mad, he had thought about it numerous times over the day, reliving it as best as it could. It was perfect. It has aroused him at least a few times that day and he didn't know how long he would be able to go without speaking to her about it. Surely he would talk to her about it soon.

He had an idea. They could go to the tree. That was their plan for this evening. He had just figured it all out. He would pack a basket with snacks and a blanket and they would have a very late evening picnic under the tree. It would be romantic, not to mention the perfect time to talk to her about whatever he wanted.

"Elena" He tried to put on as surprised of an expression as he could. "I just figured out what we could do!" He screamed with delight causing a loud laugh from Elena.

"Is that so?" She asked, folding her arms trying to put on a manly façade going along with his little game.

"Yes! Oh, yes!" Damon jumped up and down for a moment and then smirked stopping instantly and folding his arms as well. "Wow. I would hate to be a woman. That was too much excitement for one day already." He was still being sarcastic as he pretended to wipe the sweat from his forehead gaining a playful punch from Elena. He grabbed the spot where she had hit him and pretended as if had hurt. He was all fun and games; she couldn't get anything serious out of him.

"Alright" He sighed. "In all seriousness I know what we can do." Elena simply stared at him; her arms still crossed trying to hold in her smile which failed after a couple seconds. "We are going to have a little late evening picnic. I'll go pack us some snacks, you can go get the basket and the quilt."

Her eyes lit up. "Why did I not think of that?"

"Face it, miss. I'm the best of everything." He shot her a quick smirk before he added. "I am joking."

* * *

><p>After approximately a half hour, Damon and Elena walked through the field, hand in hand, with Damon carrying the basket of food and Elena carrying the quilt. They set up directly underneath the large tree, sprawling out the quilt and taking out the snacks placing them on napkins they had packed.<p>

Damon had made them each a sandwich accompanied by some apples, grapes, pieces of cheese and a handful of fresh bread rolls. Just after finishing the second piece of his sandwich, he finally grew uneasy and needed to know about last night.

"Elena, can I ask you something?" Damon asked.

"Of course Damon, what is it?" She placed a couple pieces of cheese in her mouth waiting for his question.

"What exactly do you remember about last night?" This caused her to swallow abruptly, almost choking on the still-large pieces of cheese that she had forgot to chew before swallowing.

"I…um." She stuttered not exactly sure how to answer it. She had remembered most of the night but she knew that there were periods she had completely blanked out on. She had been meaning to ask him about that, or perhaps she hadn't. She did not even know if she wanted to know what she could not remember. Would it embarrass her? Would it make her seem foolish? She had no idea. Sighing, she told him what she knew. "I remember you and me, down at the front door. You surprised me with a beautiful corsage." He nodded smiling, blushing a little, if you would call it that. "We arrived at the Lockwood's. You introduced me to Lady Caroline, Tyler Lockwood and his parents as well as some other occupants of Mystic falls." Once again he nodded. "We began having some drinks and then we danced. Then we drank again and that's basically it." She shrugged frowning before remembering something else. "There is something else I remember." She whispered.

"What is that?" Damon asked, talking back just as quietly.

"You told me you loved me." She whispered again, barely audible to Damon's ears.

He smiled before repeating her frown. "Is that all you remember, Elena?"

"Yes." She second guessed herself before repeating it again. "What else could there be?"

Damon leaned in over the basket into her ear. "You can not recall what we did? The touches we shared?" Confusion swept over Elena's features almost instantly. It hurt Damon. They were amazing memories, yet he was the only one that could recall them.

"What touches, Damon?" She asked quietly.

"You and I shared some pretty intimate moments last night Elena. We were in my bedroom, you and I. We began kissing until we…" He was cut off by Elena's question.

Her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my… Did we…" It was his time to cut her off.

"No. We did not do _that_." He assured grabbing her hand and lowering it back down to her sides with his still entangled. "I would be pretty upset if we did though and you could not recall a moment of it. We had fun, put it that way. It was not far off that, if you know what I mean." He winked at her revealing his trademark smirk. She knew what he was talking about now. She had never done that with anybody before and it was just as well as they hadn't done anything if she could not remember it.

"I can not even remember it." She huffed. "What is the point of there being a first for things if it's like it did not happen?"

"If you like, it could happen again." His gesture caused color to speed to her cheeks. Her throat became dry as words left her.

"I haven't the slightest idea where to even begin if I did." Her head was now turned away from him, facing the rest of the field.

"We could start with this." Damon whispered. Elena wasn't sure what he was even talking about. She began to turn her head back in his direction but her actions were stopped by his hands grasping her face and turning her eyes to face his.

They looked into each other's beautiful eyes, both slowly moving forward. Damon's hands fell into place behind Elena's ears, his fingers glided through her silky locks. He gripped her temples firmly, yet gently pulling himself in close enough that he could feel Elena's warm sweet breath blowing gently onto his face.

Damon's eyes fell upon Elena's lips noticing fully how luscious and welcoming they looked, anticipating the spark from the initial contact of her lips on his. Without hesitation, he fills whatever distance had just been between them, their breaths interlocking now.

The kiss started off slowly and gently until Elena felt Damon's tongue glide across her teeth asking for permission to enter. Hesitantly, she parted her lips and his tongue welcoming himself into her mouth with a soft, moist, gentle dance.

Elena could feel her heartbeat start to speed and her arousal starting to build, quickly. Entangling her hands in his hair, she deepened the kiss and quickened the kiss surprising Damon but only for a moment. Her hands still in his hair, he removed his from hers and pushed aside the basket of food and remaining meal before grabbing her neck this time and gently laying her on the quilt.

He broke free from her lips to search for any sign of fear, or worry in her eyes. Anything that said she wanted to stop. He searched and searched and searched, looking for anything but all he could see was her lust-filled chocolate orbs.

"Tell me to stop." He whispered, afraid she would agree but he needed to throw out all his options. He did not want her to regret this.

"What?" She asked, her eyes opening a little wider as she became confused.

"Tell me to stop, if this is not what you wish. Tell me, and I will stop." The fear was practically dripping from his voice by now. Elena cupped his neck as she stared up into his face wondering why he was asking her this now. He knew how she felt, he should know what she wanted and what she wanted was him.

"I do not wish to stop you, Damon. Come here." She pulled down on his neck, captivating his lips because of the short—but way too long absence that they had just spent apart. Damon moved over Elena's body, placing one hand on her left thigh and the other on the back of her neck. The hand that was on her thigh roamed up her belly tickling her, trailing between her breasts and then back down to the small of her back; where he began to untie the simply corset attached to her dress.

One by one, he loosened the strings until the dress was slack enough for Elena to wiggle out of. Revealing her in just her undergarments, he admired her body like he had the previous night before realizing she had already begun unbuttoning his shirt. She struggled at first, trying to undo the buttons with only one hand but with a little help and a smirk from Damon, she managed just fine. Both still consumed in each other's lips, she trailed along his muscular, bare chest like he just had, moving down past his abdomen and reaching the button on his slacks. Undoing that with perfection, she helped him remove his slacks revealing his man parts. Elena blushed when her eyes fixated upon it, but she couldn't seem to look away. This earned a half smirk from Damon against Elena's mouth causing her to giggle.

Last by not least, Damon removed Elena's under garment, their lips finally parted for a momentary break. While Damon revealed Elena's naked body and gazed at it, she was caught up in the beauty of the night. A crescent moon shone directly above them, hundred upon hundreds of stars twinkled into the night. There wasn't a breeze to feel and the temperature was just right. She admired the perfect setting before bringing her full attention back to her lover.

"You are so beautiful" Damon whispered into her ear, before leaving a trail of kisses from her neck to her tummy and back up again.

"You are gorgeous." Elena replied back to him. "You're so perfect" She moaned in response to his kisses.

He positioned himself at her heated entrance, preparing to join them as one. "You never have to be afraid, Elena." He reassured her, not only with this but with everything else he had to offer her. "I will always look out for you. I will always be gentle." Gathering a nod and a small smile from her as a sign to proceed, he entered slowly warping their bodies and their souls into one, one another getting completely consumed and entering oblivion.

Love making is an art. It is the art of body expressions for two people with strong mutual sexual and emotional desires. This was exactly the case for Damon and Elena. The union of their two bodies intertwining was stronger than any emotion either had ever experienced. It was like they were the only two people alive; they were all that mattered at this moment, in each other's eyes.

The beauty of it overpowered the little bit of pain Elena was experiencing. Needless to say it was also overruled by the pleasure.

A while later, their bodies were completely drenched in each other's sweat and stuck together from the moisture. Elena lay snuggled into Damon's chest, listening to the soothing lullaby of his heartbeat as it returned to normal. He continued to play with her damp hair, removing the pieces that clung to her flushed skin. Neither spoke a word for what seemed like eternity but in reality was just short off twenty minutes. They no longer needed to speak; they had just said all they needed to say.

Any question Elena still had about Damon had now been eliminated from her thoughts completely and any worry he had about her having about him, were gone directly out of his head and were never to be allowed back in again. Elena felt even more for him than she had earlier, if that were possible. She felt like a love-struck long girl but it was true. Elena Gilbert was in love, with the blue-eyed man that had her at hello.

"I really do love you, Damon" She kissed his cheek. She just had to assure him, to make sure he knew how she felt. That would never change now.

"I know." He genuinely said and smiled at her kissing her forehead. "I love you, too."

* * *

><p><strong>C'mon, leave me some love and reiview :) <strong>


	16. Caught off guard

**Those of you who noticed what I posted on my profile, don't you love me? I didn't think I would get an update in to this story nor I need you to be my miracle any time soon. Actually, I was anticipating no update for either story until like the 20th of June because next week is the last week of school, followed by two weeks of exams and we all know how teachers are the last week of school with tests and such, I feel like giving up sometimes lol. But curiosity got the best of me, so I checked what progress I had on this and realized I had much more than I had expected so I decided to finish it for you guys and post it even though I know it's shorter. **

**Thanks so much for all your wonderful comments and stuff, I love that you love this story. I like it too :) **

**I really hope this chapter ties you all over for the next three weeks or so, I'm terribly sorry for doing the little hiatus but I have no other choice. As for my lovelies that read INYTBMM, I will try to get one update posted within the three weeks seeing I updated this one but that would be it. **

**Thanks for sticking around guys, I love you all!**

* * *

><p>"<em>I really do love you, Damon" She kissed his cheek. She just had to assure him, to make sure he knew how she felt. That would never change now.<em>

"_I know." He genuinely said and smiled at her kissing her forehead. "I love you, too."_

* * *

><p>It had been two months since Damon and Elena made love under the tree in the meadows for the first time, but it hasn't been their only time. There was no way imaginable that after that amazing experience they would be able to stay away from one another, from their love. Making love with one another was how they showed their desire for each other and it was how Damon showed that Elena had his heart just as much as she showed him. It consumed the both of them, and each one fell more head over hells for the other as each day passed. You could call it love, but they would not dare describe it any other way than saying it was true love.<p>

They both got what they were looking for, a love that consumed them. Elena searched for desire, she found it in Damon. Damon searched for adventure and with Elena; every new day was an adventure. They fit each other like lock and key, they were the perfect match. They even looked amazing together. They were currently the perfect couple and nobody could say any different because words would not do them justice. Whenever they left the estate and headed into town, pedestrians young and old, more so old; would look at them and smile with the slightest hint of admiration in their eyes. To everybody they were perfect, but to them; they were just in love.

* * *

><p>Giuseppe was away for a couple days on a business trip leaving Elena and Damon to tend to themselves so Damon decided on having once again, another picnic in the fields but this time, he decided on having dinner there. He had a surprise for Elena, a surprise that she would never forget. He asked her to dress simply, nothing over the top and to meet him under the tree as soon as the sun began to set for the romantic evening he had planned for them.<p>

He was already sprawled out over the quilt when he seen her skipping toward him, her angelic figure becoming more and more visible as she came closer to him. She wore a simple white summers dress, and her hair hung in loose waves with a yellow bow left to collect it at the side. As she came within good view, Damon realized just how beautiful she truly looked, not that she looked any more or less exquisite any other time but he still could not help but practically drool over himself. He noticed her gaze drop to the lush grass in front of her but not only that; she noticed the delicate rose pedals that were strewn in an alter-like way. He had blended red rose pedals as well as white and yellow to contrast and accentuate with one another. As Elena continued to focus on the fairytale scene before her, her mouth became ajar before revealing the huge smile that was hiding behind it.

He stood up to greet her, being the gentleman he was. He grabbed her hand graciously and kissed it tenderly. "My my, you certainly look ravishing this evening." He said it as casually as he could, paying no particular attention to her reaction but still smirking because that's what Damon Salvatore does.

"You look dashing as well." She smiled returning the compliment as calmly as she could. Unfortunately, Elena released a squeal followed by a giggle which was accompanied by words but Damon could not pick any sense into it.

Furrowing his brows together but still laughing Damon said "I take it you like what I did?" Once again, his smirk escaped.

Elena nodded her head back and forth rapidly. "Oh yes." She was still beaming and she didn't know where to get to. Damon has such a charming side that it made her hate continuously melt. "You did all this for me?" He nodded in response. "You did not need to place such trouble upon yourself, Damon. You mustn't burden yourself trying to fancy me but I do thank you from the bottom of my heart, this is spectacular." Waiting for his answer, she seated herself upon the quilt and scanned the food he had laid out for them. There was turkey, sweet potatoes, corn, fresh made banana bread and cheese. "May I indulge? I am quite hungry." Her statement was confirmed by her belly deciding to roar causing her to giggle and apologize.

"You do not have to ask me if you are permitted to eat, Elena." He smirked toward her while conjuring up his own meal. "You can do whatever you please. Who am I to refuse a lady of food? Especially when her stomach tells me so." Elena continued to eat as Damon commented on her words before she seated while he began to sort the food onto his plate. "I assure you, this was no trouble. In fact, it was rather enjoyable. I love surprising you and I will continue to do it for the rest of our lives. You are no burden to me, Elena. But I am more than glad that you liked it, I knew you would." He smiled a true smile before he leaned in toward her for a kiss which she returned without thinking.

"I suppose you are right." She said before beginning to place her own food upon her plate. "You really do know me. And you really do know how to pick the finest foods. This is delicious." She was now taking a bite of the turkey, and then the banana bread and then the cheese. She did not really care how she ate in front of Damon, she just made sure to use her manners and look respectful. But with Giuseppe, she carefully inspected her every move, making sure she seemed lady like.

"I tell you over and over. Blame it on my inability to stop being amazing." The smirk was once again prevalent but Elena did not mind. She liked it, it made him seem dashing as well as brazen.

She scratched her head as she pretended to be deep in thought. "Right…" She held up her finger. "I forgot all about that."

He scowled at me, not convinced that I was joking. "I really am. Ask anybody."

Elena reached out to touch his hand and reassured him. "I know Damon."

They ate the rest of their meal talking about anything and everything. There was hardly a detail that either of them lacked to know about one another time now but whatever new tidbit of information they gathered, they held onto for dear life and learned instantly. Damon did not know how Elena's mind worked but he found her so interesting and she was like a book. A book that he could not put down, a book that was never-ending. They always talked, both trying to learn as much as they could and always being more and more amazed. But when their conversation became short and words failed them, silence was not painful; it was golden. With them, words were not needed and they were both completely content with that.

Elena just finished popping the last few pieces of cheese that lay on her plate into her mouth when Damon began to fixate his clothing and he then stood up.

Puzzled, Elena asked him what he was doing no because she did not know, but more so because she was stunned, flabbergasted, completely speechless.

Damon did not intend on standing up and she realized that now. He got upon one knee, reached into his back pocket and pulled out a silver velvet box.

Elena could not believe her eyes, it had been a fraction of a second and she had already become paralyzed, completely engulfed by what Damon was now saying.

"Elena." He started, looking more nervous than Elena had ever seen him before. "I'm not sure if this is too soon, but it feels right. This—us, it feels right, perfect even. I have known you for the majority of spring and now we are into summer. Time does not matter to me because I feel as if I have known you for years." He poured his heart out into his speech, making sure she understood exactly what he was doing. His face—more so his eyes, showed the depth of his love. Everything he had to offer was laid on the surface and for once, he didn't seem to mind. He seemed confident. "You have found a place in my heart, Elena… a place that I did not know would ever be filled. You make me want to be a better person; I try to be a better person, for you. You infatuate me, and I find your existence fascinating." He grabbed her hand with the one of his that had yet to be occupied and grasped it firmly. "You know that I love you, and I do. I love you more than I could ever put into words, my love for you would never be able to be described but I would like to spend the rest of my—our life, to show that to you. Be my wife, Elena Gilbert and our story will start here. Be my wife and this will be just the beginning."

* * *

><p><strong>Please help cheer up my horrible mood from studying by leaving me a teeny weeny review :) <strong>


	17. The devil himself

__**Hey I'm back :) Did ya miss me? I know I certainly missed this but my lack of ideas for this story caused some sort of writer's block and I would never have been able to get this chapter up today if it weren't for my amazing friend, and Beta, LiveBreatheVampire. Seriously, she helped me so much this chapter, she's my life saver. Want a good story to read, or four? Go check hers out. Every thing that that girl writes is pure art. Thanks again girl, xoxo**

**I hope this chapter gives you guys what I promised. I know I promised a good chapter after my exams, so here it is. Although some of you may get mad with me, you signed up with it from the beginning just remember that and remember I've got a plan so bare with me :D **

**Onward. :) **

* * *

><p><em>He grabbed her hand with the one of his that had yet to be occupied and grasped it firmly. "You know that I love you, and I do. I love you more than I could ever put into words, my love for you would never be able to be described but I would like to spend the rest of my—our life, to show that to you. Be my wife, Elena Gilbert and our story will start here. Be my wife and this will be just the beginning."<em>

* * *

><p>Elena remained as still as a statue for what seemed like forever to Damon. She had no expression on her face, it had become pale as paste and there were no signs of her breathing. It seems she had forgotten how, to be completely honest.<p>

"Elena?" Damon began to feel slightly nervous as he began to play in his mind all the responses she could say that would not be the simple one worded answer he was hoping for, waiting for—needed. What if she didn't want to marry him? How could he cope without her in his life? He wanted to be able to wake up with her breath on his face, with noisy children running around and he wanted to be able to kiss her whenever he wanted. It was early to think about that far into the future but he did. It's what he wanted, a family—a life, with Elena. He wanted to hold her body next to his and find peace when listening to her calming heartbeat. He wanted to be able to love her, apologize when they fight, and show her how much she means to him all day and night. Most of all, he wanted to treat her like a woman-wife-should be treated. The idea that Stefan violated the beautiful woman next to him made his stomach churn. How anyone would want to harm this beautiful, delicate woman was beyond him.

"Yes?" She said as she finally began to breathe again but there was a slight change in her voice that made it sound like a question. Had she replied yes to her name or yes to the proposal?

"Yes to what?" Damon whispered.

"Of course I will marry you." She gave him a quick side smile before throwing herself over into his arms and began to kiss every atom that defined him.

Little did they know that this wasn't the end to the fairy tale, it was the beginning which meant they had more obstacles to face…Every couple had problems. But in their hearts, they knew that it wasn't going to be easy for them. Having a father who didn't care about his son was already a big obstacle.

They remained in their own little world for quite some time after that, ravishing and devouring each other's body right there, in the meadow, the very first place they had made love. Damon lay sprawled out amongst the quilt and Elena was resting on his chest listening to his heart beat gradually slow down. The sunset radiated off their sweat-glistening bodies making it the perfect moment, the best day of their lives.

"Elena?" Damon whispered.

"Mmm?" She murmured, not bothering to move.

"I love you." He removed his hand from around her waist and caressed his fingers down her body before latching onto her hand, the hand with the newly placed engagement ring. This caused her attention. She didn't move, but she tilted her head toward him, her large doe eyes boring into his cerulean orbs.

"I love you more." She whispered and gleamed from ear to ear. "But what about Giu-"She began but was cut off by Damon interrupting her.

"Don't even mention father, Elena" He warned. "Giuseppe has nothing to do with this. He has no say in this, he gets no opinion. Not after that stunt he pulled the other night. I knew he was cruel towards me." Damon gritted his teeth and looked away from Elena, off into the sunset. "Hell, I knew he despised me, but I never heard him say it. I never heard him say anything like that to me. To tell me I'm worthless, and incapable of being loved. What kind of man—no, what kind of father says that to his oldest son? He should respect me; I've always done everything he asked. It isn't my damn problem that I didn't want to fight away my life." When he said nothing, Elena sat up cupping his face in her hands, unsure of what exactly to say.

"Damon, listen to me." She began. "You are perfect. Giuseppe does not get to ruin this day for you—for us. I just wanted to know if he knew which he obviously doesn't...but that does not matter Damon because I love you and you love me and that is all that matters. We've gotten through so much together since we have met and I could not possibly be any more thankful for you. You saved my life, Damon. I don't think I would've been able to live with myself after what happened with Stefan...But you, you wanted to protect me even though I'm nothing but the average woman. And I will never forget that, Damon, never. You are capable of loving because quickly and hard, I had fallen for you. I am still falling for you, more and more each day." She emphasized and he just looked at her blankly, listening to what was called compliments. An appraisal that he has barely ever received.

"You are made for me. You are perfect, Damon. You are the definition of perfection, maybe not to your father, maybe not to your brother and maybe not to the world. But you are to me, and you just need to tell yourself that is all that matters. You do not need anybody else if you believe in my love. We can pack up and run if you want, we could go anywhere you would like. I don't mind, as long as you're by my side. All I care about is spending my life with you until we both take our last breaths. I would do anything for you Damon and I will. Just name it."

"You… you would run away, for me?" He was shocked and did not know what else to say.

She nodded. "In a heartbeat. Besides you, I have nothing else for me here."

"There is nowhere I would rather be if I were with you, Elena. I wouldn't care if we lived in a hut, as long as you were by my side." He leaned forward placing a gentle kiss on her lips. "But, I just think we should remain here for a little while longer. As much as I hate this place, this is where I want to get married. I grew up here, it would mean a lot. My mother would have wanted it." He whispered and she nodded understanding. She wished she had met Damon's mother. As if he could read her mind he spoke. "I wish my mother would have gotten the opportunity to have met you, she would have adored you." Elena's smile was bittersweet. She didn't bother to speak; she just grabbed Damon's hand tighter.

"I wish that I met her too," She said after a while. "And I wish that your father gave us his blessing. I always wanted to be loved by my husband's side of the family. But I already told you, Damon...I don't care. It's you I'm marrying, and he does not get a say in this."

They remained on the quilt, just soaking up each other's presence but at some point they had put their clothes back on, not wanting to take the risk any longer.

It was now almost dark, the sun was just barely visible over the horizon and the couple hadn't moved nor said a word sense. They were just lying in the field, Damon was playing with Elena's luscious hair and she was trailing her fingers up and down his chest.

The voice of the devil himself spoke, making the hair on Elena's body stand at attention and nearly causing Damon's eyes to fall out of his head. "Oh pardon me, it seems I may have ruined a moment here although you guys look a little more than acquainted if I do say so myself." The smirk on his face was not seen by either of them but they could practically hear it in his voice.

Elena lifted her head slowly hoping that what she had just heard was a dream, a hallucination, something.

But Damon's facial expression told her that it was not a dream. He had already stood up, standing protectively in front of her, as if he was keeping a lion away from a lamb.

"Stefan."

"Protective of your plaything, Damon?" The menacing voice smirked.

Damon lunged at his brother in one swift movement and he had him pinned underneath him on the hard ground. He started to punch him furiously, earning himself a kick in his stomach. He winced in pain, but that didn't stop him from grabbing his knife and forcing it against his throat.

"Damon, stop!" Elena called out in fear that Damon would actually kill his brother. She ran next to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "You're better than him, don't let him win..."

"Yes, Elena, stop him," Stefan said mockingly. "Because he is a puppet in your hands but you weren't able to stop me, Elena. I took what I wanted from you, and now he's just jealous that I got to taste you first-"

At those words, Damon went free of Elena's grasp and lunged at Stefan again. There was no one in the world that could define his hate and anger towards his brother.

"Go on, attack me," Stefan urged, "I'm sure father would be very pleased of having a murderer in the family...and then you'll rot in jail waiting for the gallows while I screw your girlfriend, and this time there will be no one to stop me..."

"Damon, stop!" Elena roared when she saw the knife Damon was holding close to Stefan's body. "Let's get out of here. Don't let him do this to us!"

Damon spat out the blood that formed in his mouth. "You stay the hell away from Elena or I swear to God I will destroy your life. I'm sure father would be very pleased of having his perfect son in jail, because he's in fact a rapist."

Damon stood up, grabbing Elena's waist protectively and leading her away from the monster that lay on the ground.

* * *

><p>"Why did you do that?" Damon asked Elena later as she cleaned the blood that poured on his cheekbones and mouth. "Why did you stop me?"<p>

"I wasn't saving him, Damon," Elena mumbled quietly. "I was saving you. You're not capable of doing something like that to your brother. The guilt would've destroyed you."

"Guilt? I couldn't possibly feel guilty of killing someone who raped the love of my life."

"He's still your brother, Damon," Elena looked deeply into his eyes. "I know you. It will destroy you. And apart from that, you hurting him would just put you in jail...And I don't want to live without you."

Noticing her watery eyes, Damon pulled her closer to him, hugging her tightly and kissing her head gently. "It's okay Elena. I won't let anything happen to us."

* * *

><p><strong>Please tell me what you thought :) <strong>


	18. Reversal of happiness

_Hi guys, :) Hope the start to your summer holiday is fantastic! My updates are going to be a little quicker now that summer's here and I have a lot more time to write. I just really hope that I am able to connect to internet when I visit my dad in Quebec in july. I'm going there for five weeks and his condo does not have internet because he doesn't need it. So I'm 100% sure I will have the chapters done, I just need to find internet.. which probably will not be a problem :) So don't even worry about that._

_PS. Have any of you heard about the deletion of stories here on fanfiction? Most stories are at risk, check out the little note on my profile, I go into further detail there and I have the link posted to sign the petition against it. There needs to be 50,000 I think. Last time I looked there was 37,000. So there's still a nice ways to go!_

_A big huge thanks to my girl, **LiveBreatheVampire** for being my awesome beta. She's something else, she truly is. Go check out her stories, you won't be disappointed. _

* * *

><p><em>"Why did you do that?" Damon asked Elena later as she cleaned the blood that poured on his cheekbones and mouth. "Why did you stop me?"<em>

_"I wasn't saving him, Damon," Elena mumbled quietly. "I was saving you. You're not capable of doing something like that to your brother. The guilt would've destroyed you."_

_"Guilt? I couldn't possibly feel guilty of killing someone who raped the love of my life."_

_"He's still your brother, Damon," Elena looked deeply into his eyes. "I know you. It will destroy you. And apart from that, you hurting him would just put you in jail...And I don't want to live without you."_

_Noticing her watery eyes, Damon pulled her closer to him, hugging her tightly and kissing her head gently. "It's okay Elena. I won't let anything happen to us."_

* * *

><p>"Father," Damon started as he sat across from his father at the table in the dining room, eating their lunch the next day. He and Elena had decided to tell Giuseppe about their engagement as soon as possible and unfortunately, that meant telling Stefan at the same time as well. But it wasn't Stefan's reaction they were worried about.<p>

"Elena and I have some important news that we would like to share with you."

Elena began feeling quite nervous but as Damon reached over and held her hand, she felt her body beginning to go back at ease. It was amazing how much his simple touch affected her body.

"What is it?" Giuseppe spat, thinking for a moment before a look of disgust over washed him. "Please do not tell me you have gotten this young lady pregnant, Damon."

"No!" Damon exclaimed as fast as he could. "How foolish do you really think I am, father?"

"I am certain you do not wish for me to truthfully answer that question." Giuseppe said, sipping a spoonful of turkey soup. From the corner of Damon's eye, he noticed Stefan smirk while he too, ate the soup but he did not—would not—could not, let Stefan get to him. He would kill that pathetic excuse of a brother in a heartbeat but he dearly tried to restrain himself from doing so, for everybody's sake so he chose to ignore Stefan's smirk and snort, and gave his full unwanted attention back to Giuseppe, his equally pathetic excuse for a father.

Elena noticed the way he was tensing up and squeezed his hand, reassuring him that Stefan was the least of their worries right now and that this conversation needed to be carried out thoroughly.

"No, I suppose I do not." Damon sighed. "On the contrary, in our opinion, it is the best event that has happened to either of us in a very long time."

Damon's eyes scanned his father's features to see if he was catching on but it seemed he did not. Damon saw something flicker in his father's grey eyes though, almost as if he was conjuring up a plan. He looked away from his father just in time to miss the smirk appear on Giuseppe's face. He knew where this was going, all too well.

"I asked Elena to marry me." He blurted out, looking down at his soup.

His father remained silent but Stefan coughed and choked on his soup, needing to pick up the napkin, cough into it and collect himself. "A marriage in this family? Stefan sneered. "How lovely. Looks like we are going to have a new Salvatore, pa."

The other three ignored Stefan's mockery and pretended like he was not even there.

"Hmm." Was all his father said. "It is a bit early for a marriage isn't it? You two hardly know each other."

"We have known each other for six months now Giuseppe, we are ready." Elena butted in, trying to sound as sweet as possible.

"Well nobody asked for your opinion, did they?" Stefan hissed back.

"And did someone ask for yours?" Elena retorted suddenly feeling brave. She was no longer afraid of that man, with Damon by her side Stefan could never lay a finger on her.

"Enough!" Giuseppe demanded. "I will not have the 'soon-to-be' Salvatore family argue over such things. Stefan, quit your jealous behavior at once and stop acting so childish."

"But father I—"Stefan began, his cheeks becoming flushed.

"Don't you dare sass me boy." Giuseppe warned.

He turned to Damon and Elena and looked at them with an unidentifiable emotion in his eyes. It was almost like he was pondering and weighing the option, almost like he was convincing himself whether the Salvatore family would gain or lose.

Damon was looking at his father warily. No, he would not let him scare Elena off. She told him that she would run away with him. He was ready to give up everything, hell he was ready to live in misery as long as she was by his side. He would gladly give up the mansion he lived in and the money for Elena. Nothing else mattered except her.

Giuseppe looked at his son and for once he smiled. He thought he saw his wife in his son's eyes, and he instantly remembered when he was the one who introduced Damon's mother to his own father who was strict and distant from him. Maybe he had gotten his parenting from his father's side of the family. But the love he saw in his son's eyes was similar to the love he had for his own wife. He had to give his blessing. Damon and Elena were in love, he could see that clearly now. However, he still had to gain something from all of this...

He cleared his throat and turned to Stefan. "This is time for celebration, a time of recognition. We will throw a ball tomorrow night, here… to acknowledge the engagement of my eldest son and the finest lady around." The older man was beaming; a smile graced across his face and did not leave. Damon and Elena exchanged worried glanced but Damon's worry was soon filled with happiness.

His father had accepted him. For once in his life, he had done something right. He felt like he won a million dollars and Damon could not help but grin from eat to ear along with his father.

Elena warmed up to the sight of this and she instantly became happy too. She knew too well that all Damon wanted was to be recognized by his father and finally do something right and earn his respect and this was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for, for years, since his mother passed on and she had helped make that happen. The pride she felt for Damon was unbelievable and once again, her mind drifted to the thoughts of him being too kind for her—too amazing for somebody like her but she shunned it off. Damon was hers, and she was his. His father accepted it, and his brother could no longer get in the way of them. Everything was perfect.

Stefan, on the other hand, did not look so pleased. He had stopped eating, his face was white as the driven snow and his eyes were like saucers. "What?" He spat out.

"You heard me boy," Giuseppe said, smiling evilly. "We have to prepare everything at once. Gosh… we have to get you" She gestured towards the latter son. "…fitted for your tuxedo and we have to arrange all of the appetizers, main courses, flowers, decorations today. This is going to be so enjoyable."

"Wait." Damon insisted. "Why do we need to do everything so soon? The ball is tomorrow night." He smiled. "We have weeks to determine what we would like for the wedding after that. There is no need to rush father. Everything will get done, if you help us."

"Of course I am helping but so are you, which is why we need to do it all today, and a little bit of tomorrow if necessary."

Damon's brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean but so am I? Of course I am helping."

"Exactly." His father stated. "Which is why it needs to get finished before you leave."

"Excuse me?" Elena asked, not quite catching what Mr. Salvatore was trying to say. "Damon is going to be here until the wedding…" She felt uneasy as worry settled into the pit of her stomach. "There is no need to rush, sir. We have all the time in the world. We have yet to discuss the actual wedding date but for sure it will not be any earlier than a month or so."

"Such a clever girl, right." Giuseppe agreed. "But Damon is leaving two mornings from now, so we need to have everything ready so that when he returns, you two can get married right away."

The three young ones stared at Giuseppe with confusion, neither knowing what he was talking about but Damon was the first to speak.

"Where am I going?" Damon laughed. "I am not going anywhere."

"Yes you are, you are going back to war."

"When hell freezes over" Damon shot out before he had time to think what he was saying.

"Well I guess hell is freezing over, because that is the only way you two are getting married. I will make sure of that."

"This is absurd." Damon shook his head, all the color drained from his face. "How long do you expect me to return to that god awful place for?"

"Approximately a month, give or take a week or two. More likely than not, it will be longer. The marriage will happen the day after you return home." He smiled, making it seem like it was the most common thing ever.

"I do not think so." Damon started but Elena squeezed his hand, ushering him to stop.

"Oh I do think so." Giuseppe said. "Like I said. If you do not obey my command and return to war, like you should be today, you are not marrying Elena. Do I make myself clear?"

"This should be my choice, not yours." Damon felt disgusted, horrified, betrayed. He let himself think for a moment that his father accepted him, and for once was proud of him but apparently not, and he would do whatever it took to win him over, to feel as good as he felt moments ago believing he had succeeded. "What happens if I go?"

"You mean when you go." He corrected. "You serve the time you should have served before quitting and you return here, awarded with my blessing and marry the so called love of your life, living happily every after." Giuseppe clapped his hands together smiling at the couple. "Oh." He says. "May I add? If you do not do what is expected of you and fulfill my simply little order, I can assure you that Elena will no longer reside with us."

"Father" Damon spat. "How can you say such a thing? You cannot kick Elena out just because I choose not to go to war." He threw his hands up in the air. "She has nowhere else to go."

"That is not my problem" Giuseppe stated. "I like you, Elena, I really do. But your future now lays in my sons hands."

"This is not fair" Elena muttered under her breath, tears threatening to come out. Her words were only loud enough for Damon to hear.

"So if I go." Damon started. "Elena will be safe, here? And we will get married the day I get back?"

"Correct" Giuseppe said sternly. "Elena will be perfectly safe in mine and Stefan's hands while you are gone" Elena flinched. Damon gulped heavily and Stefan grinned evilly. "And when you return, the wedding will await you."

"Alright." Damon simply said not knowing what kind of deal he had just signed. "I'll do it."

Either had failed to notice Stefan. The color had returned he was eating his food again but under that, was a permanent smirk. Damon was leaving. Damon was leaving Elena, unattended. Elena was the reason that Stefan returned, his obsession with her was the reason he had come back. And now she would be unprotected, Giuseppe obviously did not know anything. He could do what he wanted, when he wanted, without consequence. Their father believed she would be safe in Stefan's care, in his arms. That was when she was most unsafe and now she would have nobody to comfort her at night, nobody to save her from him and she was scared—disheartened.

* * *

><p>"Damon, what has gotten into you?" Elena yelled once they were alone, both taking a stroll through the gardens.<p>

"I have to go Elena." Damon cried. "Surely you out of all people can see that."

"No Damon. I do not see why you have to go. You said before you cared nothing about your father anymore. He should respect you for who you are, not force you away from your home—from me, to prove yourself."

"I know." Damon sighed. "But when he told me he would help us arrange the wedding, I felt happy. Every part of me was happy. And the moment he told me I had to go, the hollow spot came back. I need him to be proud of me Elena; I need to do this to move on with my life. I need to do this to be the husband you want me to be." By now his hands were cupping her face, and he was searching for any sign of understanding in her eyes. "I have to go now regardless. He has threatened to throw you out. That is never going to happen, not because of me"

But she pulled away, out of his reach. "How can you say that? How can you tell me what I should expect of you?" Tears were now cascading down her cheeks. "I know what I want from you as a husband and I want you here, with me! Surely you can understand my outlook on this, Damon. I want you here, not god only knows where risking your life just to get your father's blessing for our wedding. We do not need it Damon; if he's going to be stubborn then we are better of without him. I do not even care if he throws me out! What happened to you and me, running away together? I would not need a spot in this home if that were so."

"I thought so." Damon whispered. "But family is everything, Elena. I am positive you know this. Running away would not be as simple as we thought it would. We would have no money, no knowledge of the world, nothing."

"It was everything" She whispered back. "Until they died. Now you are my only family, Damon and I never want to have to worry about your life, to worry about you dying. We could learn!" She shot back. "We would obviously learn the ways of the world, we would manage somehow until we found a way to make money. Damon there has to be something we can do. I cannot loose you; I cannot be here with Stefan. What if he kills me, Damon? He is capable of anything and everything"

"Hey calm down, he will not touch you." He cooed, stepping forward and pulling her into a soothing embrace. "You will not have to worry, okay? I will write as often as I can. I will be safe. I am amazing."

"You are still so ambitious." She laughed, her crying coming to a stop.

"Of course I am. I have every reason to be with somebody like you by my side."

Elena smiled at that comment but did not really acknowledge it. "Stefan is home."

"I know." Damon said.

"When you leave, there will be nobody to protect me, Damon. I am afraid to know what will do…" The tears began again.

"Elena. He will not do anything. Stefan will not touch you. The argument we had before he left will make sure of that. I threatened him, and he seemed petrified." His delicate fingers moved to her hair and began smoothing it, trying to calm his fiancée down. "That is the one thing that I am certain of."

"How can you be so sure?" She sniffed.

"I just know." Damon said, but not knowing that he would indeed, be wrong.

However, in his heart Damon felt an ache...and fear. He was afraid that when he returned, he would find his fiancée curled into a ball next to a staircase, bleeding or...no, God help him...pregnant with his brother's child, traumatized by his sexual abuse more than she already was. He was going to have to do a little more than just threaten Stefan. Yes, before he left he was going to really have to scare him; then he would have no choice but to stay away from Elena.

He grabbed her and hugged her tightly to him, resting his chin on her head as he soothed her.

"Shh, it's going to be okay," He said, stroking her arms.

She leaned in his touch, and Damon closed his eyes, content in having that angel in his arms.

"When I come back, you and I can start a life together," He smiled at her. "We'll buy our own house and nobody will get in the way."

She nodded her head, and Damon knew that he had to keep his promise. She deserved it. They both did.

* * *

><p><strong>Last chapter did amazing with reviews, alerts etc. Thank you everybody and please continue to review this chappie even if it's anon :) <strong>


	19. Unfortunate events

**AN: Hey all :) Sorry for my late update, I was in Prince Edward Island for a week and didn't find much time to write but I managed to do probably 1/4 of this chapter there and that was it. I made this chapter extra long for you guys, hope it was worth the wait :) This chapter has a prompt/request in it from _2nd time around_ for being my 200th reviewer :) Were slowly making our way to 300 so help me make that happen and lucky 300 will get a say in this story :) **_  
><em>

**One last thing.. Thank you Amy, my Beta for doing this chapter for me. You always make it marvellous. I don't think I'd be able to go back to writing without her any more, check out her stuff, she's fabulous :) **

* * *

><p><em>He grabbed her and hugged her tightly to him, resting his chin on her head as he soothed her.<em>

_"Shh, it's going to be okay," He said, stroking her arms._

_She leaned in his touch, and Damon closed his eyes, content in having that angel in his arms._

_"When I come back, you and I can start a life together," He smiled at her. "We'll buy our own house and nobody will get in the way."_

_She nodded her head, and Damon knew that he had to keep his promise. She deserved it. They both did._

* * *

><p>It was now the next day, in the middle of the evening and Elena was minding her own business while Damon ran some last minute errands for his father. She soon needed to prepare for the ball but before she did, she decided to take a brief stroll through the garden, the place that relaxed her the most besides the falls and the place she could think without and interference.<p>

The estate seemed empty, no Damon, no Stefan, and no Giuseppe from what she could tell. She was near the back door when an arm grabbed her, covered her mouth with one hand and her eyes with the other and dragged her backwards. She began panicking thinking it was Stefan as she heard a door close in front of them; guessing he had now dragged her into the parlor.

Stefan let go of her and when she opened her eyes expecting to see his evil smirk, she came face to face with her fiancé's laugh and big blue eyes. She sighed heavily in relief; her heart had leapt up her throat in those short few moments that he had 'captured' her. But the relief was only momentarily, it was quickly filled with anger.

"Damon, what on earth do you think you are doing?" She demanded, "You scared me half to death!"

"Relax, sweetheart." He cooed, rubbing her back before she pulled away. "I just want to have a little fun before we prepare for the ball."

"I thought you were in town," She inquired, raising an eyebrow and putting a hand at her hip.

"I was…" He confirmed wearily. "But I completed everything early and wanted to get back to you." He tried to close the distance between them and kiss her on the cheek but she pulled away, once again. "What is ever the matter, Elena?"

"I thought you were Stefan." She told him with a slight hint of tears in her eyes. "What you did was something he would do, in a heartbeat I presume."

Damon glanced down at his feet shamefully. "I did not think the consequences of my actions." He looked up at his fiancée and locked eyes with her. "How foolish of me to be so incoherent. My apologies… you must think poorly of me now."

"Damon," Elena whispered. "You made a mistake, but you had good intentions."

"I did." He agreed. "I wanted us to have an enjoyable evening, whereas I am leaving early tomorrow morning. After the engagement soiree tonight, we will not have any time to spend together. I am going to miss you, my love."

Elena closed the distance between them and smiled. "I forgive you. I will always forgive you. You wanted to please me Mr. Salvatore?" She smirked. "Please, do not stop on my part." She was not antsy in anticipation from what he said. She knew what he was entailing. She loved being intimate with him, each time was significantly different than the previous and always just as amazing. He satisfied her beyond her wildest dreams and just the mention of what he had in mind aroused her.

"I see I am rubbing off on you." He said with a double meaning, referring to both the smirk she just pulled and her lust for intimacy. "I mustn't keep you waiting any longer malady."

"No," She agreed moving closer to him. "You mustn't."

That was his queue. He broke the distance between them, crashing his lips onto hers kissing her senselessly. At first their tongues slowly waltz together in at a steady pace but before either of them knew it, it was like the salsa; erotic and urgent. One tongue would battle against the other for dominance until the other found its rightful place. Damon and Elena both longed for the satisfaction that they received for one another. It would be god only knew how long until they were reunited once more.

They moved, slowly backing up little by little until their bodies found the davenport. Damon leaned back onto it, pulling Elena on top of him in the process not wasting any time. She quickly repositioned herself on top of him and if seen by anybody else it would not have been very appropriate but Damon and Elena was always ones for breaking rules. She was now straddling him, her dress up past her thighs, her undergarments forced against his slacks.

Their need and desire for one another grew larger and Elena felt the throbbing between her legs, the desire to feel him, all of him. She felt his manhood growing. It had pressed against his tight slacks and was now rubbing against her thigh turning her on even more.

Damon broke the kiss only to work his way down her jaw, kissing her neck and nibbling on it ever so lightly before trailing down to her revealing bosom, kissing their plumpness while his hands kneaded her full breast. They fit perfectly in his hands, as if they were made for him and he smiled at the thought thinking how perfect she truly was. How perfect they were together.

Elena moaned into his hair as he continued to knead and squeeze and massage her love bumps. He continued this for a while, flicking and pinching at her nipples, arousing her to her peak. She was crumbling at his touch and he hadn't even left her chest yet. She knew what he was capable of, and she full well remembered what other pleasuring techniques he could do using not only his hands, but also his mouth; his tongue.

The moment his fingers left her bust, she felt bare and she longed for his touch even thought he had only stopped a moment ago. His expert hands caressed her back and reached for the corset strings on her dress undoing the bow that held it in place; he began to loosen up her dress. He took his time in doing this, undressing her ever so slowly, as if they were not in a rush. And they weren't, he had all night to please her.

She longed to get out of that dress. They seemed to get tighter and tighter and when he finally had her undone all the way, she took a deep breath, happy.

She removed his suspenders and let them hang at his waist while she unbuttoned his trousers he began to remove her dress.

"This is quite a show." Stefan's voice hissed in amusement. "I take it I should have knocked."

"That would probably have been best." Damon spat back between his gritted teeth.

"Please," He gestured rolling his hands in their direction. "Do proceed. Elena has nothing that I have yet to see. I've seen her sinfully perfect body and used it to satisfy my needs before you." Stefan licked his lips in delight, which was a disgusting sight to the couple. "And If I may add, Damon… I will always be her first." Boasting he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms in the process.

"Get out!" Damon demanded, fury surging up inside him. He was going to rip his sorry brother apart for even mentioning the rape in front of him. The thought that he was going to leave Elena unprotected was scaring him.

"I'd rather not." The younger brother simply said. "I never knew we had our own brothel."

"You are intolerable," Damon spat. "Elena is nothing like those women."

"No?" Stefan raised an eyebrow. "Then why has she been deflowered before marriage by two people—brothers." He spoke as if she were not even in the room, clearly not caring.

Damon's anger kept building up and building up to the point where he felt like he was boiling. "You gave her no choice. You took away her choice, a long time ago."

"It felt good too," Stefan boasted, Damon cringed and Elena gulped. "Could I join? I am positive it would be fun to try." Damon and Elena looked at each other, their expressions full of disgust.

"Damon." Elena warned. "Ignore him; he is just trying to upset you."

"He is doing a mighty fine job then," The younger brother smirked at his words.

"Follow me, Damon" She urged, walking towards the door—and Stefan. Damon turned around, fixing his clothing.

Elena walked through the door passing off Stefan but as she quickly walked past him, he leaned into her ear and whispered four little words. "Tomorrow the fun starts." Those four little words made her ears hurt, her throat constrict and her heart and head ache. All the time she and Damon spent, building her back up and making her strong might as well of not happened. Because she had lost all progress the moment he said that, it had been all for nothing. Stefan was just going to make her weak again, and he would take everything away from her.

* * *

><p>After that, before Damon had the chance to talk to Elena she ran for her room, locking the door and refusing to leave. Damon remained outside of her chamber for quite some time urging her to talk to him, but she kept refusing; telling Damon she needed some time alone. At one point, she stopped replying to Damon's voice and it was like he was talking to himself so he left, deciding to give her space and time and that when she was ready, she would tell him what made her so upset.<p>

Damon spent the majority of the day procrastinating and trying to take his mind off of Elena, to give her the space that she wanted but he felt so helpless. She was his fiancée and there was nothing he could do to make her feel better because she would not allow it and it hurt him, a lot. Throughout the day he napped, bathed, visited the stables, wandered around the gardens and finally prepared himself for the evening's upcoming soiree.

As the sun declined over the horizon and the moon rose in the sky, Damon Salvatore; in a black suit and tie with matching Italian leather shoes made his way downstairs and remained in the parlor until his other half joined him.

* * *

><p>She was ready. She had managed but barely to pull herself together, for Damon's sake. His father was throwing an engagement party for them after all and Elena should be happy to attend. Surely Stefan would not be able to lay another finger on her; everything would be fine she told her self. Damon would not allow it, right? She was safe now. Damon wouldn't allow it, she repeated again. Damon quarreled with him; he would not risk what could possibly happen just to fonder her improperly. But yet, she could not shake the feeling that she should watch her back at all times. But enough about Stefan, Elena had to focus on her fiancé, and her engagement party.<p>

She made her way down the stairs, gracefully and slowly, still deep in thought about everything that was happening. Damon. War. Stefan. Her. Party. All those thoughts rushed into her mind but when she seen those cerulean eyes, all thoughts disappeared except for one—maybe two. Damon. And engagement party. Her mood quickly brightened when she glanced briefly at the ring on her finger and a smile appeared on her tanned face.

Damon watched her descend the stairs, he seen her eyes light up when she noticed him and he watched her gleam as she glanced down at her engagement ring. She looked extraordinary. Glancing at her from head to toe he truly realized her beauty, how stunning she looked. Her luscious locks were pinned up in a braid that started in the front, wrapped around and transformed into a bun revealing her delicate, long neck. She wore the most beautiful dress out of all the ones she owned. Damon seen this one, he was in her presence the day she purchased it. In fact, he was the one who purchased it for her. When he saw the beautiful golden silk, he instantly imagined it as a dress on his fiancée', and he was more than happy to pay the tailor a double price to hurry up and finish it. It was a sparkling gold dress with a sweetheart neck line. The dress was gold however there was black crinoline underneath and the bust was beaded with white, black and silver sequins. And the outfit was topped off with a white sash around her petite waist that tied in a large bow at the back. She was also wearing a golden necklace, a necklace that he had given her with a heart as a pendant. The earrings were also a gift from him. What words did Damon use to describe her? Phenomenal, exquisite, gorgeous, stunning. And perfect.

He noticed himself walking forward to meet her at the end of the stair well. He held out his hand and she took it without hesitation smiling her perfect smile. His Elena was back, excellent. "You look absolutely breathtaking this evening, my love," He says as he leans in and gives her a kiss on the cheek. The place he kissed quickly becomes a bright shade of rose as it ignites on fire. She still reacted so much to his touch, it felt unreal.

"Thank you, Damon" She giggled. "I wanted to look extra pretty for you tonight."

"And so you did. That is to say, I do not know how you managed to pull it off," He told her.

"Whatever do you mean?" She asked, confused.

"You are always beyond pretty, Elena. But somehow, you manage to look prettier every time I lay my eyes upon you. And each time I think that a woman cannot get any prettier you amaze me every single time," He pronounced the last words perfectly, saying every syllable and at the last one, he removed his right hand that had been placed behind his back was a single red rose. She gratefully accepted it, smelling its delicious aroma.

"Thank you, so much" She exclaimed. "It is beautiful."

He smirked. "A red rose symbolizes immortal love, sacrifice, and passion… My love for you will never die. I will always choose you, I will do whatever it takes to make you mine and the passion I feel towards you is unbelievable. I cannot wait to make you my wife, Elena. So I can love you forever and so I can flower you with red roses to show you, truly how much I care about you. I want to prove it to you every night, if you allow me to Elena. But everything will be your choice, my love."

"My stars." Elena whispered. "You are going to make me faint right on the spot, Mr. Salvatore." She teased. "You are beyond charming, you know that? You always have such a perfect way with words. You make me feel like the best lady in all the land."

"And you are," He agreed. "You always will be _mia bella_". He took her hand, leading her to the carriage.

"What does that mean?" She asked, curious about his roots.

"_Mia bella_ means my beautiful." He told her smiling.

"Oh," Elena whispered.

* * *

><p>"Ladies, gentleman, friends and family, I welcome you and I thank you. You all contribute to this wonderful evening we are about to share despite none of you knowing the reason for such a gathering. Well, it is my greatest pleasure to be able to announce that my oldest son, Damon and the lovely Miss Elena Gilbert are destined to wed—to become one. Son. Elena, come here." Giuseppe summoned, motioning them to come forward with his hands. As they made their way to the front of the large dining room, the crowd burst into applause and cheer. People patted them on the back, hugged them and shook their hands congratulating them and it seemed like forever when they finally arrived next to the old man.<p>

He patted his son on the back. "Damon here has made me so proud. Not only is he promising me a daughter-in-law and grand children, he has volunteered once again to return to the military and serve our country!" The crowd roared, not noticing Damon roll his eyes and scowl or Elena look frightened. Giuseppe had twisted it, not bothering to mention that he forced his oldest son into the agreement in order for him to marry the love of his life. Of course, nobody would believe that Giuseppe would do such a thing. In the townspeople's eyes, Giuseppe was a very noble and strict man who loved both his sons equally, and who aimed to help everyone. _Everybody except his oldest son..._ Damon thought.

* * *

><p>The rest of the night went by fairly well except for one dance. Elena and Damon were dancing together to a slow piano song and Elena noticed Stefan glaring in their direction. She had been watching him the entire night, and for the most part he seemed happy. He played the perfect brother. The brother who was ecstatic for his older sibling for finally be wed—to have an amazing sister-in-law and to hate to see his brother leave for war. That is who he portrayed and both of them wished that it was not just an act. But occasionally, Elena would get a peculiar feeling and she would look around, and lock eyes with Stefan and his evil smirk. His eyes were almost threatening her, threatening her that the following day he would hurt her or worse, repeat the thing he had already did to her. While they were dancing, he stepped in, asking permission in front of a large crowd to dance with his sister-to-be. And when he did, he would smile for the audience in case anybody were looking but he would send Elena glares and winks that made the hair stand up on every inch of her body. And right when the dance ended, she bowed to him like she was supposed to and he grabbed her hand, pressed it against his lips and whispered. "I hope you are ready for me, love." Then he walked away and neither Elena nor Damon caught glimpse of him for the rest of the night, thankfully. Elena wanted to tell Damon what her brother had said but he seemed so carefully tonight, so happy. She did not want to spoil it for him, so she kept her worries and his promises to herself and put on a smile; destined to be the life of the party until it concluded a little past midnight.<p>

* * *

><p>Tears fell down Elena's olive cheeks. "Damon, I do not want you to leave me."<p>

He threw his army bag into the carriage, and he was wearing his old uniform. He cradled Elena in his arms trying to comfort her. "I do not want to part with you either, Elena. Surely you must know it kills me to leave you, right?"

And it did. He was going to miss her so much it hurt. The only thing that would help him move on was the thought that when he returns, he'll be able to marry her and live far away from his father's house, and away from Stefan's evil smirks and evil thoughts.

"Yes," She sobbed and sniffed. "But everything was perfect and now it is not."

"This is just a little bump in our road, sweetheart." He assured her. "I will return as soon as possible. And the day I do, I am making you my wife. I will not have you wait any longer nor will I be able to."

She lit up at his words. "You really want to marry me as soon as you return home?"

"The moment I walk through that door if possible," Damon confirmed kissing his fiancée's tear stained cheek.

"I will be counting down the days, Damon," Elena whispered.

"Me too." Damon said. "Me too."

Elena hugged him tighter and leaned into his ear. "I am frightened by what terrible doings your brother is capable of, Damon. I know you said he promised but I do not trust it. I notice the way he stares at me, as if I am nothing more than some harlot downtown."

Damon cupped her face and assured her. "Elena listen to me. He will not touch you, okay? If you so much as get a little suspicious, tell somebody. I am serious. Maybe not father but somebody will have to believe you. Do not let it get to you."

"I will try." Elena promised, for him. "But I am still scared."

"I know you are darling." Damon cooed. "You will be fine. I assure you."

"Okay," Elena gave him a tiny smile.

"But it is time for me to leave." Damon whispered, glancing at the carriage beside them trying not to look at Elena, for his eyes were beginning to water and he needed to stay calm and collected, to keep her feeling strong.

"I love you so much, Damon" Elena whispered, the tears coming frequently and freely again.

"I love you too, Elena. More than you realize." Damon says back, hugging her one last time. "I will write, Elena. I promise."

Breaking the hug, he gave her one last passionate kiss before making his way to the carriage. Elena grabbed his hand while they were kissing and she held onto it until he slipped out of her grasp. She watched him climb into the carriage and when the door shut, he revealed his gorgeous face one last time through the window.

"Come home to me, Damon." Elena said. "Promise me."

"I promise you," He answered. "I will come home to you as quickly as I can, Elena. Please do not forget to write me." The carriage took off.

"I would never forget." Elena called.

"I love you," Damon yelled one last time. Elena was too far away to notice but the tears that had been welling up in his eyes finally released as he got further and further away from her.

"I love you too." Elena whispered, knowing there was no point to shout. Damon would not hear her.

And just like that, her soul mate had left her alone, not purposely but it still cut her like a knife. A piece of her was missing, she felt the hole already. Turning on her heels, Elena made her way back inside the mansion, catching the silhouette of Stefan's body in his window before disappearing behind the curtain.

* * *

><p><strong>Please, let me know what you think of it! :)<strong>

**Oh! Does anybody want to make a banner for me for this story? Pretty please :D **


	20. It was only a matter of time

Hi guys. This is a bit later than usual and I'm sorry. I'm currently on my second vacation in Quebec right now with my dad and there's no internet here in his condo so I've been having a really hard time to get it. I've had this chapter done three or four days now and I was extremely lucky to get internet yesterday to send it to my beta, and amazing friend;Amy. (LiveBreatheVampire) Thanks girl, you're wonderful.

**I'd like to inform everybody that in the very near future me and LiveBreatheVampire are going to co-write a story together :) So be sure to check it out when we do. So go subscribe to both me and her if you aren't already doing so; I think the stories going to be put here on my profile! **

Disclaimer: I own nothing vampire diaries related except for my own work which is right here.

* * *

><p>"<em>I love you," Damon yelled one last time. Elena was too far away to notice but the tears that had been welling up in his eyes finally released as he got further and further away from her.<em>

"_I love you too." Elena whispered, knowing there was no point to shout. Damon would not hear her._

_And just like that, her soul mate had left her alone, not purposely but it still cut her like a knife. A piece of her was missing, she felt the hole already. Turning on her heels, Elena made her way back inside the mansion, catching the silhouette of Stefan's body in his window before disappearing behind the curtain._

* * *

><p>Hell. The Salvatore estate had been hell without Damon. Elena had nothing to do, no activities to lose herself in; no way of passing time. The last week had become a routine. Awake, bath, eat, and take a leisurely stroll through the garden until she would come across hers and Damon's place. She would remain there thinking of her lover while crying and she would then have to collect herself before returning home and barring herself away in her chambers. And she never intended on staying out of her chambers unaccompanied any longer than any hour, not willing to take the risk of waltzing into Stefan and have him look at her like she was a toy, a claim. The possessive look in his eyes scared her. The only time she would be in his presence was for meals and those she hardly minded, because Giuseppe was there. Every now and again though, he would glance at her when the elder would be too concentrated on his food, and he would wink at her, or glare. He would just do little things that would make her uncomfortable and they would make her mind race, realizing that just because he has not made a move yet does not mean he wouldn't. Elena was only waiting for the moment he tried to force himself on her again, and frankly—waiting scared her immensely. Her stomach constricted painfully at the feeling that something bad was going to happen to her. She was almost waiting for it to happen soon, and she had no idea of what she could do to defend herself. Her only white knight was away, fighting for their country. She's been having nightmares of the younger brother every night since Damon's departure waking her in the middle of the night, damp from sweat and shaking like a leaf.<p>

* * *

><p>No more than two days after Damon left, Elena received a letter from him, calming her down slightly knowing he was okay and well.<p>

_Dearest Elena, _

_We promised to write and I could not wait for your first letter so I took the liberty of doing so myself just to ease your thoughts and let you know I am here, safe and sound. It is unfortunate but at least things are fine. We arrived on the night of Monday, forced to set up camp and prepare for battle right away. We were drafted in this morning, placed in groups with fighters who have been her longer than we. _

_I truly wish father did not threaten our relationship and force me here. The violence and bloodshed is worse than I remember, every death is an ache in my heart even from only being here a day. I know that this is my duty, Elena, but there are too many innocent people hurt and killed. I do not wish to be here anymore, Elena. I never cared about town pride, I do not care what people think of me and I should not have cared what Giuseppe thought of me. This was a trick and I was foolish to think this would change my father's opinion of me. I should never have agreed to leave you—my love. But you are constantly on my mind, remember that. When I return, which I hope is foreseeable in the near future; I will make it up to you, for as long as you desire._

_Please reply to this letter as soon as you receive it, you are what will keep me sane. You are all I look forward to now. You are my only connection outside of this world—you are the only connection I want._

_I hope all is well at home. If under any circumstances my brother seems mischievous, run. Run to Caroline, run to our secret falls… just do not let him fool you. I know I have shaken him up but lately I have had this feeling that he just doesn't care. Please watch yourself, Elena. If he ever hurts you again, I promise… I will ruin him._

_I love you so much my beautiful fiancée. I cannot wait to call you Mrs. Elena Salvatore. That name sounds better than any lullaby I've ever heard._

_A million kisses,_

_Damon._

Elena's heart had melted at parts, froze in others and even stopped at his last declaration. She obeyed and had written a letter back right away, sending it off as soon as she finished.

_My beloved Damon,_

_I thank you a million times for writing me. I truly missed you—or should I say miss you because I will until you return back to me._

_Please promise me you will always watch your back. You cannot trust anybody out there; everyone is surviving for nobody but themselves. Do not depend on anybody… you need to be extra careful because I need you to return to me._

_I tried to remove the thought of leaving from your head but once you assumed Mr. Salvatore would be proud of you for 'defending your country'… there was no talking you out of it. I wish I had tried harder; you do not need to prove to anybody how amazing of a man you are._

_On a happier note, Stefan has not tried to talk to me yet. I tend to keep to myself, not leaving my chambers for very long because honestly, I am weary of what he is capable of anymore. At meals, he sometimes glares and winks but I brush it off, knowing he cannot do anything with Giuseppe near. Things are fine for now. I promise if there are any warning signs, I will leave instantly. Do not fret my love; I am going to be okay. And when you return, you don't have to worry about me anymore, because you're going to have to stay by my side forever. _

_I cannot wait to be Mrs. Salvatore either, please do hurry home so I can claim your name. It's only fair, am I right? You stole my heart; so I will steal your surname. _

_With all the love in the world,_

_Elena._

She had been relieved to know he was alive and well and thinking of her. It had been three days since he first wrote, and she was expecting letter number two to arrive soon, very soon.

* * *

><p>"Miss Sommers, has my letter arrived today?" Elena asked sweetly to the maid of the house. Jennaleigh Sommers maintained, cleaned, and gave her full undivided attention to the estate and the residents' needs. Elena had not even known that there was a maid until Damon left, they literally bumped into each other while leaving the house and they became fairly close every since. The lovely lady was only perhaps two or three years older than Elena, and she has been the only girl besides Caroline to seem to want to be more than just acquaintances. And Elena being Elena, the selfless, sweetheart could not resist making a new friend, a friend that would be around most of the time. After all, Jennaleigh was a hardworking woman and a very kind person. It was nice to talk to someone in days like this when she felt so alone. She didn't feel comfortable talking to Giuseppe, she was obviously avoiding Stefan and if it weren't for the lovely young woman and some maids, she would've gone crazy.<p>

"Yes, Miss Elena. I was on my way to inform you. There is one letter for you, from Damon," The maid winked causing Elena to giggle.

"Oh, Jennaleigh," Elena sighed still quite amused. "May I have the letter, please?"

She nodded and extended her hand, passing the white envelope to Elena. Elena could not wait to open it and to reply to Damon. She had been waiting nearly two days for this. "Miss Sommers, if you will excuse me. I have to go to my chambers and prepare my response."

"Of course, dear." She smiled, picking up the basket filled with dirty linen she had been carrying a few moments ago, before she had to place it on the floor to hand Elena the letter.

"Thank you for bringing me the letter," Elena smiled.

"It is my pleasure, dear." Jennaleigh said once again. "I understand how you two feel about each other. It must be hard with him so far away." And she walked away, heading toward the laundry room.

_Oh you would not even be able to begin to comprehend how right you are_Elena thought silently to herself, making her way to her room, not able to wait any longer to read the letter.

_My sweet Elena,_

_The pleasure is all mine. I would not be able to go any length of time without communicating to you. I have recently been informed that I have five weeks left here making six in total and then I am free. It is safe to say I will never return nor will I ever miss this place._

_Do not worry. I am a very independent man. There is only one other man I have become close to, he is a lot like myself. His name is Alaric, and we have bonded quite well over the past five days. Basically ever since we meet in the trenches. We were assigned to the same group and during an invasion; he had my back and only mine. And I had his, only his._

_When we leave this place, he is coming and staying with us for a while, to attend the wedding. I want him to be my best man. I have nobody else and I want you to meet him. You will love him… like I said, he is just like me (but I am better, of course.)_

Oh yes, leave it to Damon to throw in a little humor.

_I wish I had listened to you, you were right. But that is in the past now, and the only thing on my mind is my future—with you. Which will commence quicker than you realize so prepare yourself, my love._

_I am glad with regards to Stefan, I do not even wish for him to attend the wedding but I do not think that will settle too well with father… Tell me the moment anything suspicious happens…God forbid. The worst part is there is nothing I will be able to do here so please be extra careful for me. I know that you're a very strong and independent woman, and I wish to meet the same woman after I return. Do not let anything change you, you are precious to me._

_I love you so much,_

_Damon._

Damon always had a way with words. It took Elena a few minutes to come up with what she was going to say and unfortunately it was not going to be long.

_My darling Damon,_

_I am so happy to know when you are coming home to me. Five weeks is not long at all, I was expecting seven, perhaps eight more week not counting this past one. This is a big weight lifted from my shoulders. I will prepare, I have to arrange everything and make it extra perfect, for you. It is all going to be a surprise and I want it to be the best, for you._

_I cannot wait to meet Alaric, he seems really friendly. Where is his hometown? He can stay as long as he wants, although… we will be gone a little while for our honeymoon. Him being your best man seems like a good choice, who will be the other men standing by you? I agree, I do not want Stefan up front—or there at all for that matter but I know he will be, because of Mr. Salvatore._

_Still nothing happened with Stefan. We seem to cross paths less and less since my last letter, I do not know if it is intentional (well it is on my behalf) or if it is a wonderful coincidence. Either way, I am in no way complaining._

_Come home to me beautiful, I love you;_

_Elena._

She felt like she was repeating herself but at the same time she did not care; they needed to write to one another. After all, she would tell her husband that she loved him every day untill the day that they both die. Elena made her way to the location she assumed Jennaleigh would be and was pleased when her assumptions had been right.

"Back so soon?" The maid smiled, not taking her eyes off the sheets she was washing on the scrubbing board.

"I did not have much to write this time… it is not the same in a letter."

"I know how you feel." Jennaleigh glanced in Elena's direction, offering her a sad smile.

"You do?" Elena asked.

"Yes." The dark blonde replied. "I have recently found someone and he too… has gone off, risking his life to fight for our country. I begged him to stay."

"Who is the lucky man?" Elena grinned, happy for her friend.

"You would not know him, dear. He is from Fell's Church. Perhaps you will get the opportunity to meet him when he returns." Jenna smiled before putting her attention back into the sheets.

"When does he return home to you?" Elena asked, curiously.

"In five weeks. I received a letter from him today as well."

"The same time as Damon."

"Yes." Jennaleigh smiled at nothing in particular. "We are very lucky, you know? I expected for it to be way letter."

"I did too," The younger brunette admitted. "I know you will be writing your love as soon as you finish up. Would you be able to post my letter as well?"

"Of course, dear" Jenna stopped what she was doing to take the letter from Elena. "I should not be too much longer."

"Take your time." Elena said. "I think I am going to take a nap. Thanks again Jennaleigh.

"My pleasure miss Elena."

* * *

><p>Before Elena laid herself down for a nap, she drew herself a bath to relax and be at ease before laying down. Her bathroom was connected to only her room being just hers. It was quite large with exquisite pale teal tiles covering the floor and light lavender wallpaper cascading across the walls. It was spacious enough for two people but allowed Elena to be by herself quite comfortably. Ironically enough, it was one of the rooms where she felt safe, where she could just relax and think about her future. It was one of the rooms (apart from hers) that shut her out of the cruel world, the world she was living in.<p>

Positioned in the middle of the bathroom was a deep, porcelain claw foot bathtub.

Elena removed her dress and corset and nude, stepped slowly into the cream and lavender added water.

Time ticked by, not that Elena minded. She was lost in her own little erotic world, thinking of her fiancé and all the amazing, mind-blowing things that he was able to do to her. He was truly extraordinary; he knew her and her body better than she knew it and Elena realized how much longer she would have to wait to feel his touch. Five weeks was not long, but it was when you were used to making love every second night for the past half a year. Lost in thought, Elena began trailing her wet fingers down her belly, circling around her navel and dipping lower just above her pubic bone. Her breathe accelerated and if she could see herself, her face would look flushed. Her fingers moved lower under the slipped between her folds. She slowly moved them up and down the slit, stopping at her clit to fondle it between her two fingers.

Elena moaned Damon's name, her mind filled with memories of their love-making as she continued to please herself. The outside world no longer matter and was no longer there, for she continued to get lost in her motions until she came on the edge, screaming Damon's name at her release.

Still in the water, nearly under—Elena's body cooled down, her breath slowed as she tried to return to normal.

"Elena." Her eyes shot open and her head shot out of the water as she sat up as quickly as possible. "That was quite the show you just put on for me. Mind if I get involved this time?" Oh no… She recognized that voice, that evil smirk—those eyes.

Stefan.

* * *

><p>Hope you liked it, please review :D<p> 


	21. Chain reaction

__**Instant Attraction**

**Chapter 21: Chain reaction**

* * *

><p><em>Oh no… She recognized that voice, that evil smirk—those eyes.<em>

* * *

><p>"What ever is the matter, Elena?" Stefan asked, actually looking concerned as he stepped away from the door and slowly walked towardsher. "You look like you have seen a ghost."<p>

"I—I…" She stammered but words failed her. She may as well have seen a ghost; that would have been much better. She was sure that a ghost would mean her less harm than Stefan.

"Oh, I almost forgot," He whispered to himself, turning around to close the door causing Elena to panic and jump out of bathtub, oblivious that she remained bare before him. She could care less right now; there was only one thing on her mind—escaping Stefan, she couldn't bear the thought of being his victim again.

"Ah ah ah," Stefan grabbed her with one hand, and with the other he waved his finger at her. "Where do you think you are going?" She squirmed and pushed with her free hand, trying to cover herself and free herself at the same time but as she already knew; he was too strong. She had experieced his strength before, and it hurt to even think about it.

"Stefan." Elena sobbed. "Please let me go. Surely you mean no harm." She tried to manipulate him—make him feel. For a moment she thought it had worked, his grip loosened and his eyes widened a little in response but as quick as a blink; it was gone.

"You should know me by know, Elena." He warned her. "You know what I like. You know what I know and you most certainly know that I receive _everything_ I want." And with that, Stefan's grip tightened once more, pulling her bare body to his; leaving no space between them whatsoever. He leaned forward and stroked her wet hair, inhaling her scent. "You smell divine." He purred into her ear, giving her goose bumps and causing every hair on her body to stand on end. He seemed to be pleased by this, because his fingertips started to lightly dance on her arm, as he continued to press himself against her.

"Leave me alone," Elena muttered, trying to remove herself from his grasp. He was too strong; she should have known that by now. She did.

"Elena, Elena, Elena." He tusked. "Save your energy." His grin was wicked. "I reckon you'll need it time when I have my way with you. Just remember, Elena, you are here for my pleasure."

* * *

><p>"Get down!" A voice called out over the explosions. "Remain where you are!"<p>

"Alaric, mind your head!" Damon called out to his new friend. They were lying down in the trenches with their bayonets and weapons in hand; armed and ready—waiting for the enemies to leave their territory. Alaric was being a fool and peaking his head up over the dirt, trying to see what was happening.

Alaric was a brave young man, but his courage scared Damon. He knew people, he knew war. If a man was too brave, it often ended up in them taking risks. And risks often led to death.

"Stop your fussin' Damon." Alaric yelled back, his voice full of amusement. Alaric hardly minded the war; it ceased to bother him—unlike Damon who was looking over his shoulder every waking second. Alaric had his back at times sure but Damon was the one that mainly allowed them to survive unharmed.

"You are going to get yourself killed!" Damon warned him, shaking his head.

"You always think the worst." Alaric muttered, batting his hand at Damon.

"And you seem to not give a damn. You have to mind yourself here, 'Ric. Every man is for himself."

"Except me and you." He pointed out, grinning.

"Except me and you." Damon repeated, smiling back before once again; looking over his shoulder for both their sakes. He would do anything to save his friend.

* * *

><p>"Keep it quiet!" Stefan spat, pushing Elena onto her bed. Her screaming was starting to annoy him.<p>

"Please, anybody!" Elena cried. "Help me!"

The next thing she knew, she felt an extremely painful sting spread across her cheek. "I said shut your mouth, Elena." Stefan warned rubbing his palm. "Nobody can here you. Father's gone, Jennaleigh left a little while ago; it is just you and me, like the first time. You're my prize, Elena, and I intend to unwrap you."

"No." Elena whimpered, tears falling down her cheeks—both the unharmed and the red, raw one.

"Oh, yes." Stefan's hands flew to his torso, unbuttoning his vest. "I think I should rid myself of my clothes, what do you think sweetheart?" His vest plopped on the floor beside him as he began undoing his belt right before removing his pants. "I mean… I think it's only fair for me to look as you do. You are so cooperative; all ready for me. You asked for this,and I intend to give you what you need."

"I will never be anything for you." She spat, choking on her tears.

"No?" He cocked an eyebrow as he removed his last piece of clothing. He then proceeded to pick up his garments and fold them neatly; placing them on Elena's bedside table. "I come into your room—unannounced and you are already bare and wet for me. I think that counts for something."

"You invaded my privacy while I was bathing, you bastard. You are a sick man."

"Love, I am sick—for you." He batted his eye lashes as he sat on the bed beside her where she was already laying. "I think we have real chemistry. Love and hate coincide, my love. Guess what, princess; hate is the beginning of a love story, not the end of one."

"What I feel for you is strictly hate, I assure you that it will never turn to anything else." Elena mumbled.

"What was that?" Stefan glared.

"I think you heard me the first time." Elena snapped back attempting to sit up, earning herself another deadly blow to the other cheek. He seemed impressed by his work, because when he saw her cheek redden he smiled in pleasure.

"When will you learn?" Stefan muttered. "I want us to have a nice night, Elena and you are only making matters worse for your own self. I have all the time in the world, I can do whatever I want. You, on the other hand, seem very limited."

"You are delusional." Elena cried. Stefan ignored her comment, still smirking at her causing her to shiver once more. Her mind wondered to Damon—oh how she wished Damon was here to save her… How could two brothers—flesh and blood, be so opposite? Stefan quickly invaded Elena's thoughts.

"I almost forgot." He said, jumping up and heading over to his clothing. "Look what I have; I thought we could… experiment." And with that he hauled out four small pieces of green, braided rope.

Elena choked on a scream.

* * *

><p>"How is the lady?" Alaric asked. They still remained within the trenches. It seemed like the enemy troops were in no hurry to leave. In fact, they had been battling them just over a few hours now; men on both sides dropping like flies—Damon and Alaric was part of the fortunate who knew what they were up against and how to defend themselves. Well… mainly Damon.<p>

"She seems really well from her letters. I cannot wait to get home to her and start a life. I want nothing else. This isn't the life I want."

"I am happy for you, Damon," Alaric patted him on the back with his free hand. "Really I am, and I am honored you want me to be your best man."

"Well, you are my best man." Damon shrugged. "The first man I have _ever_ trusted with my life and has managed to save me not once; but_twice._"

"Oh stop getting all soft on me; you're going to make me blush." Alaric teased earning a smack on the shoulder from Damon.

"Oh, hush it." Damon hissed, a laugh escaping his lips. "How is your lady?"

"She tells me she is well. She keeps herself busy working. Said she made a great friend the last little while, said he's gone off to war as well. What a coincidence, no? She couldn't stop talking about Elena."

"Oh yeah." Damon agreed. "They sound as if they could be the best of friends—your lady and mine."

"I think they could be." Alaric agreed, smiling. "I'm sure they will be acquainted quite well at your wedding."

Damon grinned at the thought. He was actually going to marry the woman of his dreams the very same day he returned home to her after being away from her for six weeks. It was going to be an exquisite day. He was going to be surprised with flowers, decorations, friends—family; and of course, his beautiful bride in a dress waiting for him. _Mrs. Elena Salvatore,_ he thought. That had a really assuring ring to it. It sounded like home; like what Elena's surname should have been for the duration of her life from the very beginning. Then there was the honeymoon; which would probably be just a romantic night in the Salvatore estate but really; they need not anywhere else. They had one another, love, admiration, desire and trust—why have to travel somewhere luxurious for one night? Besides, they would be either in Damon's chambers' or Elena's chambers'; nobody would interrupt them—they wouldn't dare. Nobody could ruin their perfect day regardless. This thought had been merely an unrequited dream half a year ago; now it was his reality. Life really shaped up for Damon. Elena changed his world—for the better, of course. He didn't need material things as long as he was with her. He found everything in her. She was pure and kind and she was his hope.

"You are probably right." Damon said, glad that Elena would have another lady friend. Caroline Forbes had been the only woman Elena had taken to since her arrival and Damon knew Elena wanted more lady friends; she deserved them.

"I know I am right." Alaric baffled. "I am _always_right."

Alaric barely had the chance to finish his sentence when a part of the trenches, to the left of the men exploded; sending dust and dirt in every direction along with arms and legs and men. Blood splattered across Damon's cheek and across Alaric's coat. This had not been anticipated. Enemy troops should not be _this_ close… something was wrong. Very wrong indeed.

"Alaric, move!" Damon shouted hazily, stunned from the blood. He wiped his eyes clean needing one hundred percent of his vision at all times. He instantly regretted doing so at the sight of his friend.

* * *

><p>"Don't move!" Stefan raised his hand again and slapped her with so much force that her head snapped to the opposite direction. He climbed on top of her so that he could tie her arms to the bedpost, and when he was finished, he stepped away so that he could admire and stare at her in appreciation.<p>

"You don't have an idea of how irresistible you are tied like this," Stefan licked his dry lips and started to place kisses up and down her chest, before he pulled himself to his feet so that he could kneel next to her bed and touch her inner arm.

"Please leave." Elena cried trying to free herself from the ropes' tight hold.

"You would like me to leave already?" Stefan questioned, pulling himself up and slowly tiptoeing towards the edge of the bed climbing on it, rubbing his hand up Elena's legs in the process as he crawled on top of her. His hands rest firmly on her outer thighs, stroking back and forth and Elena was forced to remain stationary. He smirked. "But the fun is just commencing."

"You are a monster!" Elena yelled between sobs. "An excuse of a man. A disgrace to your family." Once again, Elena felt the familiar sting that always came along with her insults.

"You do not insult me, Elena." He barked. "You will learn." And with that, he reached over to his belongings, grabbing his button up shirt he scrunched it up and shoved it into Elena's mouth. "There." He said satisfied as he patted his hands together. "Now you will you will obey your owner's orders."

Elena continued to scream through the cloth although her voice was merely anymore than a muffled whisper in comparison to before. Once again, she was helpless and vulnerable and alone. She should have known better, she should not have believed that he would stop just because Damon frightened him. She should not have been so naïve—so foolish, look where it had gotten her. Tied up and waiting to be raped, once again. Stefan seemed to take his time, savoring each touch he made, torturing her, reminding her that he owned her. That her body was his. He stroked her thighs before moving inward, barely touching her folds which she was glad for but then he abruptly lunged forward, filling himself within her to the hilt causing Elena to make the only sound she could through the cloth. The tears streamed down her already tear-stained cheeks as the monster pounded into her, making each thrust harder and harder. She had decided long ago she did not like it like this—rough. Besides the fact that this was violation to her; it hurt. A lot. Her mind raced to Damon's gentle love making and the tears fell faster as she wished he were here to save her. Because she had five weeks left of this pain—this suffering—this torture, if he didn't kill her.

But she already felt as if she were dead. Stefan's stamina and endurance seemed to go on forever for he continued to dominate her, stripping away everything she was. She no longer felt the pain that came with the blunt force trauma; she had become numb, disoriented—a shell.

* * *

><p>"No, 'Ric." Damon screamed in horror as night began to fall. Alaric had been on front of him, crawling as quickly as he could in the other direction when another explosion went off… this time, in the direction where they had been heading. Alaric had been just a hundred feet from the bomb—a little too close, and it sent him up in the air causing him to hit the ground hard, face first.<p>

Damon had jumped up, not caring that he was now insight of the others. He raced to Alaric and jumped in the mud at his side, rolling him over to reveal blood. A lot of blood. His skin was burned from what Damon could see. His face, his neck and his hands were now raw and covered in blood.

"Alaric, wake up." Damon shook his friend violently trying to snap him out of his state. "Come on 'Ric!"

But he remained still.

**Hi all. Quick AN. Thanks to everybody for your feedback the past few chapters. My replies will become more frequent when I return back to NL the 29th. I'm going to Colorado tomorrow for 10 days, you're lucky I got this ;) It was all because of my amazing beta and bff, Amy. LiveBreatheVampire. She and I have co-written a story here on my profile titled 'What Lies Beneath' It's a spin off Beauty and the beast, we're only into chapter 1 as of today so if you're interested, we'd love for you to check it out. We're having a hell of a time writing it :D **

**Reviews are love guys, we almost have 300 :D I'd love to have 300 from this chapter... pretty please? Remember the award ;) **

**xoxo**


	22. A world so cold

**Instant Attraction**

Chapter 22 _  
><em>

A world so cold.

* * *

><p>She couldn't think, couldn't speak, and couldn't acknowledge any of her surroundings. They didn't matter. Nothing did anymore. She lay motionless on her bed, raw and brain dead. When he'd left, he hadn't left Elena. He'd left her shell—a faint reminder of what she <em>was. <em>The Elena everyone knew was gone, because that Elena had been abused and raped over and over until she could not take it anymore. There was so much hurt a young girl could take. This had simply been the last straw. Her barriers had been punctured and like a dam, the water had broken free—washing everything away and drenching her, draining her from everything that made her _Elena Gilbert._

Elena wouldn't have been able to say exactly how long she had remained in the same position on her bed, bare and bruised but it had definitely been the remaining part of the day. She had managed to crawl out of bed, wrap her white robe around her fragile body and freshen up before she got back into her bed and that was where she remained the entire night, numb, not even in fear because that was a emotion that the other Elena had.

And it wasn't as if she had a peaceful sleep. Her slumber had been the exact opposite. Memories filled with that monster, hovering above her and peeling her virtues and dignity away. That monster not only took her virginity and kept her from having her first sexual experience with someone she loved, but he also repeated the process, just for the pleasure of him owning her, of marking her as his and leaving nothing except pain. She had wakened several times, tears spilling down her eyes and her chest moving frantically. Each nightmare was a catalyst, setting off another one equally as horrible or more so; and eventually Elena gave up and remained awake, curled up in a ball on her bed left all one with nothing but her thoughts.

It was only when the sun peered up over the horizon that she truly knew the time. The orange and yellow ball or fire was the only spark of light she had seen in a day. It was beautiful—dangerous and vibrant but it did not appeal the slightest to her. The sweet song birds chirped enthusiastically to the rising sun, flying from tree to tree. But Elena failed to notice. Nothing mattered—not any more. She may as well be dead.

Her eyes could no longer cry.

Her mouth could no longer smile.

And her body could no longer register the sense of touch to any object. It was as if she had literally become numb. Elena liked that. If she was numb, then she would no longer feel Stefan if and probably when he raped her again. If she was numb, she would not feel exhausted mentally and emotionally. Things would just be simple, easy.

Damon continuously crossed her mind and it had finally sunk in just how long another five weeks would be. Five weeks of this; not eating, not caring, not moving… would surely kill her. If not physically, the mental part of her would do the job just fine. Her head was constantly throbbing, and sometimes she just curled herself into a ball and rocked herself back and forth like a person who was suffering from a mental disorder. She realized she had changed instantly. It was not as if she had wanted this to happen; her body had simply shut down and she did not know why. Perhaps it was because of everything she had already endured over the past few months because of Stefan. Maybe it was the idea that her body wasn't hers, it was his. Maybe it was because he had ruined her happiness—her enthusiasm for the wedding she had been waiting for so long. Or maybe it was simply because the pain was too much to bear. Her bruises hurt, a good reminder that the monster had left his mark on her, on a body that was supposedly already claimed by the person she loved, Damon. Even when he had pounded in those nights, all she could think about was Damon's gentle lovemaking. He was always so gentle when he loved her, because he was too afraid that he'll hurt her. What she and Damon had was lovemaking, not sex—and she thought about how much things were going to change now. Damon would come and he'd find a damaged person, nothing more. If Elena was feeling like herself she would've been afraid that Damon would leave her or send her to an asylum but she was too numb to even think properly. But one thing was certain. Elena was not going to recovery easily because of this; Stefan really had done the job. She knew he would probably pay her another visit in the evening and the day after that and the day after that. And that he would probably do horrible things to her once more; making her number than before—if that could even be possible. Was there anything worse than rape? She doubted that, because after all she had been through, she started to see death as peaceful and fast. But she was not afraid—she could not be afraid. For her own sanity's sake. There was nothing that Stefan could do to her that he had yet to do already. There was no new way of violation he could muster up to hurt her. He had done everything there was to imagine. He had hurt her in every way possible. Physically, emotionally and mentally.

But that was where she had been wrong. Stefan did not come to visit her after that. It had been three nights since his last assault. Three nights since she had left her room—three nights since she had last eaten. She could feel her body slowly shutting down and when Jenna-Leigh offered her meals, she refused. Her friend must have noticed the day after when she had failed to dine for breakfast, lunch or dinner and the next day she had come asking questions; bringing food, of course. She had come in Elena's room, placed the food on the bedside table and sat down at the food of Elena's bed, demanding to know what was wrong but Elena did not speak. She did not even so much as look at Jenna. There was nothing left to be said, there was nothing to be done. Everything was over now. She stared out the window, watching the fluffy clouds go by as she gazed into the meadow. Her eyes situated on _that_ tree the entire day, wishing that her sweet Damon would return to bring her back to normal—to _Elena_.

On the third day, Jenna-Leigh had had enough. She noticed something drastic was going on in Elena's life and she seemed to be the only person to notice. And it was to be expected, because Stefan did not heed Elena and Giuseppe was too focused on work to realize he had yet to see her in days. She did not even have a letter for Damon, and that worried her because it was strange for Elena. She _always_ wrote Damon back as soon as she received a letter, and she would always ask her whether there were more letters for her. That was when she had decided to take matters into her own hands. On her lunch break, Jenna-Leigh had decided to write Damon a letter but then decided against it, knowing that Elena would later envy her for it and she did not want their newly developed friendship to expire before it hardly even commenced. So she played nice and let Elena be, even though she desperately wanted to help. She would still check on her three times a day, bringing food and tea and any other refreshments she could think of. She had once brought her in clean towels and placed them on the side of her bathtub near lunch and when she returned with dinner, Elena not only had ate most of her lunch but she had also bathed and changed into fresh clothes. She had noticed Elena was thinner and paler but there was nothing she could do. She hoped that somebody beside her would soon realize what was going on because she was in no position to tell Mr. Salvatore or even his youngest son for that matter.

And so another two weeks went pass without anybody but Jenna-Leigh noticing Elena's absence in the house. That was another fourteen days that Elena failed to leave her room—and did not reply to Damon's letter.

* * *

><p>"I have yet to hear from malady in weeks, Ric." Damon pointed out as he paced back and forth back at camp medical tent. It had been nearly two weeks. That was fourteen whole days that he had not heard from his fiancée. It only took at the latest three days for the mail to arrive; and it wasn't like Elena not to respond to his letters. Something was wrong, he was sure of it.<p>

He had gone over it again and again in his mind thinking of all the different possibilities. Perhaps she was busy planning the wedding? But she could still fit time in her schedule to write him a simple love letter. It wasn't her at all; usually he could feel her smile when he read her letter.

Perhaps she was with Caroline for the majority of the time? Again, she could weasel a couple minutes into her day to use her quill and ink.

Perhaps she was ill? But surely she would write him given the fact she would have plenty of time to do just that.

Every scenario that he conjured up had an explanation all pointing to her being able to write back. This was odd. Plain and simple. It was playing on Damon's mind quite a bit lately too. He was always wondering if she was alright, how Stefan and his _lovely_ father were treating her. If they were even acknowledging her? He prayed Stefan did not…

"I reckon she's fine, Damon." Alaric whispered as tried to reassure his friend. He had been banged up pretty bad from that explosion. A broken leg, fractured ribs and third degree burns on his face and arms. It truly was a miracle that he managed to survive. Damon brought him to the emergency ward right away, praying along the way that his best friend would be fine but he always knew he would. Alaric was a trooper—he was anything and everything but a quitter. Alaric never turned his back on him, so he would never turn his back on Alaric and give up on him. Alaric would never give up—not on war; not on his life, and not on the girl he left at home. He would fight until the end even if it killed him, that much had already been proven.

Damon had spent most of the past two weeks with Ric, laying by his side—talking to him; keeping him sane. The poor guy was bed-ridden and all bandaged up. He was unable to move so Damon had been the one to write his lady a letter, letting her know everything that had happened and assuring that he was well and on the road to recovery.

Of course, she had come back frightened and worried; demanding that he leave the 'god awful' place they were in and to return to her but Ric was stubborn. He said he was remaining there until his duties had been fulfilled. He had yet to receive a response from that one and he wasn't really looking forward to that.

"Somehow I doubt that. It is not like her. She would write a sentence at the very least; just to reassure me she is well." He sighed, running his fingers through his longer than usual curly hair. "There is something I do not know Ric. Something awful. I can feel it. I know Elena."

"Reevaluate what you are saying, Damon." He urged. "All was well. Did she give you any kind of indication that things were not going smoothly?"

"No." Damon looked down at his feet after thinking about the last letter.

"Did she seem different? Or unhappy?" He followed through with the questioning.

"No." He replied once more.

"And would she tell you if something was the matter?" He finalized by the tone of his voice.

"Yes." Damon sighed.

"Well I think you have nothing to worry about." He grinned through his bandages. Damon could tell from his eyes, they narrowed and lit up. "Your lady is fine, Damon. And you will see her in three weeks. Perhaps she hopes to make you anxious. Or maybe she is just teasing you." Damon could feel him wink at him.

"Three weeks is too long." He whispered.

"Just keep telling yourself that in three weeks, Elena will be Mrs. Damon Salvatore." That caught Damon's attention. His face lit up to the words. It had a nice ring to it, _Mrs. Damon Salvatore._ How perfect. He just prayed to God that what Alaric was saying was right and that she was indeed, fine and well.

"That is going to be a special day for all of us to share." Damon beamed, suddenly all doubts pushed to the back of his thoughts and happiness filling him instantly. He thought about how beautiful Elena would look in her white, long wedding dress, her hair worn in long ringlets. He would be quick to take off her veil because it was going to hide her angelic face. He smiled, imagining her walking to him to be joined together as one, always and forever. And he was planning to shower her in gifts, but he was also willing to give her freedom, the freedom not much women had.

"Yes it will be." Ric agreed.

"Now all you have to do is hurry up and heal." Damon joked. "I cannot have my best man looking like a mummy."

"Hey!" Ric exclaimed. "I think I look better this way."

"I could not agree more." Damon smirked. "However, somehow I doubt Elena will agree to your choice of attire."

"I think I could pull off these white gauges." He pondered the idea for a moment. "I most definitely could."

* * *

><p>This was it. The three weeks Damon had been longing and dreading had finally gone by, slowly but surely enough; he had survived. Alaric had been sent home today as well except in an entirely different wagon then the rest of the soldiers. He was still in special care and even though his bandages were off—his new skin was pink and raw and tender in all places. His casted leg made it hard for him to walk but he was beginning to look like Ric again. Thank god. Damon chuckled to himself thinking back to their conversation weeks prior.<p>

"_I cannot have my best man looking like a mummy." He had said._

"_Hey!" Ric has said, laughing. "I think I look better this way."_

"_I could not agree more." He had told his friend. "However, somehow I doubt Elena will agree to your choice of attire."_

He was such a good friend. The best man he had come across in all his years. Even better then his own father and brother. He could not wait to let Elena meet him, she would just love him. Elena would definitely like him better now, he smiled; white gauges weren't attractive after all.

Damon had been travelling for a day now and quite frankly, he was tired to say the least. If he was honest with himself, he was exhausted. Mentally and physically but that did not stop the excitement that seemed to well up in him at each and every thought of Elena. He was going to run through that door and squeeze her in his arms, and then he was planning to hold and love her all night long.

As the wagon pulled into his gated driveway, he could have sworn his stomach tied itself in knots. He could not remember the last time he had felt this way—love sick. Never, to be honest and it was an uncomfortable yet magical feeling. That was his feelings toward Elena. He had silently hoped she would be outside waiting for him seeing he had written her yet again, another letter. This time he wrote it to state the day and roughly the time of his arrival but he also hoped that she would remain inside. He would be able to follow his plans, run to her and grab her, spinning her around and showering her with kisses and love until the sun rose the next morning when they would be wed in his own backyard, surrounded by all of their family, friends and loved ones.

Now he was truly happy.

He grabbed his bags, closed the doors quietly and ran into the house, dropping his bags off at the front door and running up the stairs as quick as his tired legs could take him. Still in his uniform, he barged into Elena's room not bothering to knock. A huge, cheesy grin plastered on his face. It was like Christmas day, seeing his new toys for the first time only this toy was not new, but she surely was precious and it was something he would _never_ ever get tired of being with.

But his smile instantly faltered when he seen her. Curled up, pale and extremely sick looking lay his fiancée simply peering at him, no smile—no emotion. It was like there was nothing in her beautiful eyes.

He had been right. Something definitely was wrong. This was not the way he had left Elena. This was not how he remembered Elena. Elena was his light, she was his hope and she was his destiny. But now, he could barely recognize her.

"Elena?" Damon whispered wearily, frightened as he walked toward her slowly. He never took his eyes off of hers and she never took her eyes off of him but he couldn't help but notice it was if she could not even see it. It was as if, she was looking right through him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I am back! Surprising, I know. Horribly sorry for the long wait. Life got in the way with coming back from vacation, starting my last year of high school and updating both of my other stories. I apologize extremely. I hope this chapter made up for how long I've been gone. **

**Thank you Amy(LiveBreatheVampire) for making this chapter more amazing than I ever could on my own. Check out our collaboration story here on my profile if you haven't already done so and check out her stuff, it'd be worth your while-I promise :D **

**Leave a review, I'd love to know who's still with me and what you guys think. :) At least we've got Damon back... right?**


	23. Revenge is sweet

Instant Attraction

Chapter 23

_Revenge is Sweet_

* * *

><p>"Elena?" Damon whispered as he leaned forward to touch her face. She was cold, so cold. It was like she was frozen. When the contact came, she failed to acknowledge it nor did she respond to it. She was really beginning to frighten him. He didn't know what had happened or better yet; what was happening. Why wasn't she responding to his touch? Why was she remaining motionless? This wasn't how he imagined it to be. He thought that she'd leap into his arms and that he could kiss her senselessly and make love to her all night long. She should be happy to see him; they were due to be wed the following day. She was going to be his wife, the thing she had wanted to become for so long. What was going on? "Please answer me, Elena. You are worrying me." His hand found her face once again and he traced her cheekbone gently.<p>

It was only then when she moved for the first time if only barely. Her head had turned in his direction. Even the way she turned it made his heart break. It was almost as if she was numb, cold. "Damon." She whispered, outstretching her arm.

He took it immediately and sat down on the bed beside her. "I'm here, Elena."

"Too long." She muttered. "You were away too long."

"I'm here now, Elena." He reminded her. "What ever is the matter?" He was trying to remain calm with her although inside, he was beyond frustrated. He needed answers and it did not seem like he was going to receive them quick enough. He needed to know what was wrong—it was really scaring him. He had went through hell when he was fighting for his country and he never expected to return home and find his fiancee this way. She was so scared, so lost.

"He…" She trailed off. "…again. Stefan… again." Half of her sentences were missing. Damon couldn't quite pick out what she was saying. If other people heard her, they'd think that she was insane. She wasn't making sense. He held her hand tighter, but not tight enough to hurt her. He didn't want to scare her, who knows what she'll end up doing?

"What?" He asked. "Stefan what, again?"

Instead of telling him, she removed her hand from his and pulled the blankets away from her frail body, revealing her white night gown but most importantly, revealing the barely visible bruises all over her body. It had been weeks since the incident so they were almost completely gone but you could still tell that they had been there. The marks on her shoulder, however were more clear and Damon could only imagine what she had felt. Scratch that, he couldn't. Elena was by nature a very thin woman. She had a small, barely-there frame and she bruised easily.

The moment Damon laid his eyes on the faint bruises he pulled Elena into his arms, rocking her like an infant. Stefan had hurt her again. He had raped the love of his life once more; he had tried to take away everything from her. Damon was fuming with fury. "Elena, everything will be fine. I promise." And it would, because what he had planned would eliminate Stefan from their lives for good. "So Stefan did this to you?" He asked through clenched teeth. He needed to confirm. He couldn't believe that the man could do such a horrible act twice, especially after he had warned him-No, threatened him. He had no idea how his brother slept at night.

She nodded, without looking at him.

"When?" He needed to know.

"A few weeks ago." She simply answered, still expressionless.

He tried to remain calm and collected in his fiancée's sight, the last thing she needed was to see him lash out and go mad. She needed to be comforted and treated as if she were a fragile item because in all reality, she was. One mistake from him could mean that she would be afraid of him too. He had to be careful. He wouldn't want to live with himself if he accidentally hurt Elena and most of all he wouldn't live with himself if she ran away from him because she was afraid that he'd hurt her. He noticed the weight she had lost, he noticed that the light had left her eyes and the glow had left her skin. He could tell from her body language and her distance that she hadn't moved from her bed in weeks. "Sweetheart." He whispered tucking her brown hair behind her ears. "You really should get some rest. I have to go and deal with a few things before I can join you for the night." He leaned over and kissed her head, knowing that she wasn't ready to be affectionate. Of course she wasn't—she had been raped; violated and stripped from her womanly rights. The truth was like a dagger through his heart.

"I love you, Elena." Damon called, blowing her a kiss like he used to do as he walked out her door.

Now, he needed to find Stefan. Because that bastard had it coming.

* * *

><p>Damon barged into Stefan's chambers only to find an empty room. He searched high and low for his pathetic excuse of a brother but no such luck. His patience was wearing pretty thin and at this rate, he was going to blow any moment.<p>

Stefan was lucky that he was nowhere to be found. If Damon got a hold of him anytime soon, he was surely rip him to shreds. He would kill him; that much was certain. Damon was seeing red and that never happened. Not even when he found out Stefan had touched Elena for the first—second time. But again? That was the last and only straw. What he did to his brother was nothing compared to what he was going to do. Nothing. Cutting him would seem too nice. Hitting him would seem too kind. Threatening him would seem to be letting him off way too easily. No. Damon had some horrifyingly scary ideas of what he was going to do the golden, can-never-do-wrong brother of his. And if nobody stopped him, Stefan would end up six feet underground…

He was going to torture him slowly until Stefan begged for death. Most of all, he was going to make his death painful. It didn't matter that he would have blood on his hands; all that mattered was that Elena will be safe. It hurt him to think about the first time that he'd love her again. What if she never let go of Stefan's assaults? What if she compared his advances to Stefan's? What if she woke up screaming every night? How would he explain to her that he'd never leave her again, even if it means going to the depths of hell with her—for her? Because he would, in a heartbeat. He'd give everything up for that woman. She was his angel, his light, and his heart and soul. Everything and the only thing that mattered to him anymore.

But there were other times to think about that. Right now, Damon had to worry about Elena. God only knew what was wrong with her. Surely she was frightened—petrified even and maybe even severely depressed. That's what his best bet was. That she had detached herself from the world due to the inflicted brutality she had dealt with God only knew how many times while Damon was away. He figured she had 'broken' so to speak and was in a sort of trance, a trance where she did not talk, move, communicate or care. And something as dramatic as this that had recurred time and time again definitely had a toll on Elena's mental state ten times worst than her physical state—if it could get any worst than that. If he only knew how right he was…

Cold. Numb. Confused. Those were the only feelings Elena felt, twenty four seven. Cold because all of the warmth and light and anything good had left her body, leaving nothing but a shell without isolation. Numb, because there were no worst pain she could endure that she could possibly feel nor could she feel the good anymore. And confused because her mind simply could not register or grasp what was actually and literally going on. She knew she was depressed, she knew she had hit rock bottom bad and she knew that Stefan had violated her body—forcefully had sex with her countless times and treated her as a slave but she could not understand why it no longer bothered her—why she could no longer feel the bruises, the pain, the mental scars or the memories. Most of all, she couldn't understand why. What had she done to deserve to be raped, thrice? What had she done to feel disgust every time she looked at her body? At times, she could almost feel his hands stroking her legs and taking everything away from her. At other times, she rubbed her body in hope that his brand on her will go away, that she'd remove the feel of his hands on her body. It never worked. The fear and haunting memories were always there, taunting her.

Her body had shut down all on its own and now she was paying the price. She wasn't going to recover from this easily… and it killed her when she seen Damon tonight. They were supposed to be getting married tomorrow—making one with each other in every way possible until death did them part but Stefan put a kink in those plans. He had officially taken away another thing she had been dreaming about. There was no way she could get married tomorrow. She doubted she would even be able to get out of bed tomorrow. And when Damon walked in, she wanted to be excited, she wanted to run and kiss him and make love to him all night like she would have and like she had planned but she could not, for the life of her, bring herself to do it.

When he had asked over and over what was wrong and she didn't answer it, it was not as if she did not want to, she simply couldn't respond. It took everything out of her to grab his hand. It was the first time she had physical contact with anybody since Stefan… and it killed her. It had drained her physically and mentally. It was extremely hard for her to do that and she knew that was the most she was going to be able to do for a very long time.

It was then she started to become more depressed. She started thinking about Damon and how she would not be able to be the woman she was before he left. She was no longer his Elena. She was gone as much as it killed her to think about it. She did not want this. But the heart and the mind has a strange way of reacting. But this Elena belonged to Stefan. This Elena was alive for Stefan's amusement, she was there to be looked at, to be enjoyed and to be tied and beaten. Her body belonged to Stefan.

Surely he would not wait for her to become better and well. And there were no guarantees that she would ever recover fully from it, she knew that. She was scared. Scared that he would leave her when he realized what truly was wrong with her. She was scared that he stops waiting and he locks her up into a mental asylum instead. He promised her that he'll never give up on her. He swore he never would but this was a completely different issue. The Elena that Damon knew was still there except she was locked so far away and so safely that it was just as well to say she was no longer there. Her body had simply built walls; walls that would keep anything from happening to her again and also ones that would help her 'cope' with her current tragedies. The only problem was, her minds way of coping was not how it should be—was not how it is supposed to be.

But her body already eased a mere bit. She fell asleep easier than usual that night and quicker for one simple reason. Her Damon was back. Somehow, that was still safer. And even though all the problems would still exist when she would awake in the morning, her night would be a little more peaceful and would contain fewer nightmares. And she half hoped that Damon would just hold her hand all night long, because he kept the nightmares away. Even though she did not really know it, she was protected. She was guarded like a precious item because to Damon she was. He was home now, for good. And he would protect her, take care of her and nurture her back to her sweet, loving, amazing self. And deep down, her body registered that. And right now, that was all that mattered.

* * *

><p>Damon was searching the house high and low for the bastard he wanted to shred to pieces. He was so mad that he was blinded-He was practically running around the house, pushing all the doors open with all his strength. He entered the parlor viciously stomping over to the counter with the alcohol and pouring himself a larger than usual glass of bourbon and gulping it down in one sip. He slammed the tumbler on the wooden desk. Luckily, it didn't break because he thought for sure the moment it made contact with the wood that it would have shattered.<p>

He breathed in and out heavily half a dozen times trying to calm himself down. He was way too worked up. His blood was boiling, his brain was on overdrive and his mind was reeling. He downed another glass of bourbon and then another, needing the alcohol to calm him but it backfired. Because after five minutes when he started to feel the effects of the sweet liquid, he became even madder if that was possible. If he kept it up he was sure that he'll kill Stefan, literally.

Not being able to contain himself, he picked up the crystal glass and threw it into the blazing fireplace with all of his might, shattering it into a million little pieces that cracked with the fire. He had to shield his eyes because of his close distance to the open fire and the glass specks were popping back out of the flames and toward him. "Damn it." He cussed. Where the hell was his sorry excuse of a brother? He was still trying to process why Stefan would want to hurt an innocent girl, an angel, for the second time. She was so beautiful, so warm, so selfless...Why did his brother hurt her? He had no idea.

"Something troubling you brother?" _That_ voice asked. The voice he had been hoping yet dreading to hear.

"You could say that." Damon turned around to face Stefan, his voice red with fury.

"What is it?" He asked, putting on a voice that made it seem like he was concerned when in reality, he was not. If he didn't know any better he would've thought that Stefan cared, that he wasn't a dirty rapist that raped innocent, helpless girls.

"Cut the whore shit, Stefan." Damon muttered, making his way towards his brother. Not once did he break eye contract with the younger Salvatore.

"Nevermind." Stefan said, grinning. "I know what is wrong with you."

Damon continued walking toward him, the red was coming back. Closing in on Damon's vision, metamorphosing his perception into something dark and gory.

"Is it because I _fucked_ Elena?" He hollered, his words echoing through the room. The words were cold, and there were no signs of remorse. "Is it because while I screamed in pleasure she was screaming for me to stop? Is it because that I could taste her tears and pain? When they are not willing is when it is best brother—"But Stefan did not get to finish what he was saying, not that it was fit to hear any way. Damon charged into him, knocking him down on the ground as he held him down with one hand and began to pound his fist into his brother's face with his free hand.

"You bastard." Damon spat, still punching Stefan with all his might. "You will pay for this. I promise you that. I promise you eternal misery, not that it means much. You will never touch my fiancee again, do you understand? Even if it means that I'll lock you up..."

"It was worth it." Stefan managed to choke out just before he spat out his own blood. "It was worth it. Taking her virginity was so far the best thing I've ever done in my life. She belongs to me, I claimed her."

Damon continued to beat into him, his face was becoming a bloody mess and after a while, Damon could not feel his hand. It was numb from the constant pounding. He was breathing frantically and he found himself out of breathe so he stopped and while regaining his breathe, he took a look at Stefan. He was covered in blood and he was unconscious. Perfect, just what Damon needed.

* * *

><p><strong>An: I'm not sure if I reviewed to each and every one of your reviews or not from the past chapters but thank you so much for helping me reach almost 320, I am astounded and I'm sad that this story only has maybe fourish chapters left, we'll see how it goes.<br>**

**Thanks again, Amy. You are a miracle worker :) xox  
><strong>

**Remember to review, and I love you all :D **


	24. Even the purest have evil within

**Instant Attraction**

**Chapter 24**

**_Even the purest have evil within_**

* * *

><p>Stefan awoke to the awful stench of blood. His blood. He groggily opened his eyes and took in his surroundings. His head was throbbing, everywhere was throbbing. Everything hurt. He was in… their basement? Not that he could be sure, because everything was spinning becoming one huge blur. He attempted to move but failed in doing so. He felt pressure on his wrists and when he looked up, he was shackled to the pipes in the ceiling and he was hanging freely by them. He wiggled around trying to free himself but in doing so all he did was initiate blood to ooze from the gashes the shackles had made. He hissed in pain at the sudden irritation and cursed.<p>

He looked down at himself and his clothing was covered in blood—almost completely red. He could feel the dried on and crusted blood on his faces, his cheeks and forehead in particular. He couldn't figure out how long he had been unconscious. He estimated an hour, two tops; however it felt like he had been tortured for days.

The basement was dark, especially in the cellar-like room he was in.

He could not for the life of him, recall how or when he had been placed in the cellar but he did remember having an outing with Damon. Damon had obviously gotten the best outcome from that little quarrel and Stefan was in pain, but to him; it was worth it. And he would not change anything he did for the world. Stefan knew that if he had gotten the chance to change anything, he wouldn't. The pleasure of being Elena's first, the pleasure of making her scream in agony and owning her felt good. He would not trade that for anything in this world.

"Damon." Stefan hollered in singsong. He saw his brother's shadow, and continued, "How about you let your dear ol' brother out?"

"I am afraid I cannot do that, brother." Damon came out from the corner, from the darkness holding a typical knife.

"And why the hell not?" Stefan hissed, but fought with himself to remain collected. He knew if he acted out of line to his brother his chances of getting out anytime soon would be slim to none. He had to admit, he never would've thought that his brother would keep his promise and torture him. But after waking up bleeding and tied up, he was almost positive that Damon was going to use that knife on him and soon if he didn't act wisely.

"Hmm…" Damon said, placing his finger to his lip as he took another step toward his brother. "I have no idea. Maybe because you are the reason my wife will hardly speak—will hardly look at me—will not even touch me. You ruined her."

"Maybe you just do not appeal to her anymore, brother." He suggested. "Maybe, she would much rather somebody like me. Who knows, maybe she likes it better when she's being tied up and beaten. Maybe she likes it rough." Just as fast as the words left his mouth, Damon's fist came in contact with his cheek.

"You abused my fiancée." Damon stated. Stefan was beginning to push his buttons. "Can you not fathom what you have done?! You have taken away her conscious, her moral beliefs, her rights, her freedom, her purity and her peace in mind. You violated her. It wasn't about sex; it was about hurting her and breaking her."

"So?"

"You have ruined somebody's life to amuse your own and satisfy the needs of your penis!" Damon roared ferociously. "A part of your brain is defective. Some nerves inside of you have obviously gone askew because anybody in their right mind would not get pleasure from inflicting pain on others, especially on young, helpless women!"

"Well anybody in their right mind would not pass up the opportunity with somebody like Miss Elena if it presented itself."

"The opportunity did not present itself." Damon mocked. "You forced yourself upon somebody who is being courted by somebody else—your own brother as a matter of fact. What is wrong with you? And even if she wasn't being courted, you still would've violated her. No sane person would touch an unwilling woman, Stefan."

The two brothers stared at one another for a long moment. Damon tried to figure out what could possibly gone wrong in Stefan's life for him to act that way—for him to lash out. Every person had a reason for the crimes and felonies they committed but Stefan. His crimes could not be forgiven. His actions could not be looked past and he could not be redeemed. Honestly there wasn't even a reason why he did what he did. There was no sensible explanation, obviously. And even if there were, Damon would still have done what he was going to do now. Thinking back to the possibilities of why Stefan was the way he was and coming up empty handed, Damon remembered the good times they had a young children. The good memories. There were few and far in between but it were memories like those that almost made him regret what he was about to do to his brother. Almost.

But then reality set back in along with the anger and hatred toward his brother. And the reasons why he was going to do, what he was going to do.

"Stefan brought this to himself," Damon convinced himself mentally, his pure soul getting along the way of finishing what he had came to do. "I'm just protecting the woman that I love, every woman for that matter..." He continued.

"There is nothing wrong with me." Stefan defended himself as best as he could, interrupting Damon's thoughts.

"If only father knew what you have done!" Damon shouted. "You would no longer be the perfect Salvatore—the golden boy. He would have you out on the streets quicker than you could say 'no.' Do you think our father would even want to look at a rapist?"

"I do not believe that." He argued. "I think father would be happy for my accomplishments."

"Are you kidding me?" The elder brother said, exasperated. "Are you delusional or just fucked up? As much of an idiot as Giuseppe is, he would not agree to this!"

"The way I see it." Stefan began. "I found something I wanted and instead of waiting for it to fall into my lap, I took control. Father always told us do whatever made us happy and to have no regrets." He smirked. "I am simply abiding by his rules. I found what I wanted. I went for it, and I got it the only way I could have possibly done so. And I do not regret a moment of it. In fact, I'd do it again, I would not mind." Stefan sneered at Damon whose blood was boiling by now. "She is so velvety, brother. She would make any man weak in the knees. Imagine if she was actually screaming for you and not at you." He chuckled to himself. "That would be marvelous. You are the weaker brother, Damon. You are allowing her to take control. You should be the one owning her. She belongs to you, not the other way round," He continued with a cruel smile. "Do not dare try to tell me you do not wish to take her without being too afraid that you will break her, Damon, because I'm not stupid. But she made you weak, so you are always walking on eggshells with her, around her. You are not a man, Damon," Stefan taunted. "If you were a man we will be taking her both right now-The real way. Not your way."

"You truly are asking for it, aren't you?" Damon asked, twirling around the knife in his hand—making its present known. "And you are unable to even understand the word 'love'. This isn't about me wanting to own Elena. This is about cherishing her and protecting her, two words that you clearly do not know the meaning of. And what we do is love, not rape."

"I just cannot seem to get the picture of her naked body out of my thoughts. Her tiny frame being positioned underneath me. Me plunging into her as hard as I possibly could and she, unable to do anything but take it and make muffled screams." Stefan pretended to ignore Damon's last words. "Did I tell you that I tied her up and gagged her, too? She looked so good that way."

Damon's fist connected with Stefan's jaw five times, and the latter spat out blood. "Are you ill?" Damon's mouth twisted in disgust. There wasn't much more of this that he could possibly handle hearing. "If only mother could see you know. She would be ashamed!"

"Screw our mother!" Stefan roared. "She always favored you, she should have favored me! I know I was barely old enough to be able to remember her but you were Saint Damon in her eyes. You could never do anything wrong! I hated her for that! She never loved me!"

"Everybody else loved you!" Damon roared back. "Don't you dare talk about our mother that way. She brought you into this world. It was not my fault that she seen you for what you truly were at the time, a spoiled, cold-hearted child." He hated bringing their—his mother into this but he knew it was true and she would say it if she were alive. "I am glad that she is dead because it would break her heart to see what a psychopath one of her sons has become. You can not be mended. You are diseased, Stefan and it is about time that somebody teach you a lesson you are bound to never forget. Our mother loved you, but she knew right from the beginning that you were a heartless animal!"

"Fuck you." He yelled and spat, sending a big glob of saliva straight at Damon's face. Damon raised his forearm to his cheek and wiped it away in disgust, that little stunt being the last straw for him.

"You will wish you hadn't done that." Damon said through clenched teeth. "Actually, by the time I am finished with you, you will wish you weren't even alive."

"Whatever." He hissed, looking away from his brother.

Damon smirked to himself before bending over by Stefan's loose legs and picking up the piece of green rope he had laid there. He stayed kneeled down as he tied his brother's two legs together from ankle to knee, making sure he could hardly move his legs.

"What are you doing?" Stefan demanded. "You better fucking untie me or you will be sorry."

"It'd be in your best interest to shut the hell up."

Damon made one swift movement and kicked his brother in the shins earning a deafening cry to his ears. Stefan huffed and puffed and cursed and swore and tried to kick Damon but he could barely move his legs an inch. Perfect.

"Not so fun when you're the one being tied up, huh?" He mocked him, and then circled him in a matter of a predator stalking its prey.

"How many ladies have you actually been with, Stefan?" His brother asked curiously, tilting his head to one side. "How many have you had sex with?"

"A little over half a dozen." Stefan answered proudly.

"Way to go brother." Stefan's eyes lit up. Damon smirked. "And have you forced yourself upon them like you did with Elena?"

"I did not need to." He grinned. "Everybody else wanted me. They were easy catch. Elena was the only one who lacked in interest for me. I could not let that happen, of course."

"I cannot possibly even begin to fathom what they seen in you." With one swift moment, Damon had his brother's trousers down across his tied ankles. "But I am going to do the rest of the world's female population a favor." He held up the knife.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing?!" Stefan yelled. "Get that away from me. What are you, crazy? Let me go!"

"You are the crazy one, brother. Not me." Damon roared back. As quickly as his hand would let him, he pulled his free hand back in a fist and let Stefan have it, right in the head knocking him unconscious and into a world of black. And right at that moment, Damon wished that his hand had the ability to put Stefan in the world of blackness forever.

* * *

><p>"Elena, dear." Jenna-leigh whispered as she peered through the door. "I've prepared your supper."<p>

"Thank you." Elena smiling softly, sitting up in her bed.

"Really?" The maid was taken aback by Elena's normalness as she placed the meal on the bedside table. She smiled at her friend gently and she sat next to her. They had been becoming great friends before everything and even though Jenna-leigh didn't know what was going on, she felt the need to be there for Elena. It was not very common for servants to be close with the ladies of the house, but Elena had never treated a single servant or slave badly. In fact, Elena was kind and gentle towards everyone, and she often said that she would never own slaves when she got her own house.

"People are not objects," She would say. "We're all the same."

Elena began eating it at once, and quickly too. This had been the first time she had eaten like this since that night.

"I am feeling better, Jenna." Elena told her.

"Much better?" She asked.

"Not overly. But I am progressing. And tomorrow brings a new day, I may be more well time then."

"I really hope so." Jenna-leigh smiled. The young woman in front of her was too tiny, too depressed. "Does this change in mood have anything to do with a certain dark haired beauty returning home to his fiancée?" She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively, trying to take advantage of Elena's good mood. It seemed to work, because a smile tugged at Elena's lips.

"That may have something to do with it." Elena giggled.

* * *

><p>"What have you done!?" Stefan roared in agony, lying completely still on the concrete floor. He had just awakened He awoke to a burning painful sensation. His hands and legs were now free but the floor beneath him had been bloody. So he had looked down at himself and he'd wished that he had not. The scene was macabre, traumatizing.<p>

"I believe the correct medical terminology is 'castration'." Damon folded his two arms together and smirked. "Now, that should teach you your lesson. If not…" He picked up the bloody knife off of the floor and held it up. "…this one will be waiting to cut off the main part!" He caressed the knife. "You know what I did today. I won't hesitate to repeat this process to every limb in your body if you as much look at Elena or any other woman in a wrong way. I swear to God, Stefan."

"No." Stefan cried.

"Oh, yes." Damon laughed evilly and from behind his back wrapped in cloth laid two disgusting pieces of his brother's body that made him sick even thinking about it. Did he seem like the insane person in this situation? Did he act upon it too harshly? No. He would give Stefan death if he lacked a conscious. This would have to do. This would do. He would never go near his precious Elena any more.

He opened the bloodied cloth very carefully making sure not to get any on his hands and then with all his might, he shot them down at his brother who was still on the floor, writhing in pain.

He turned on his heels and walked out of the cellar room. "I assume you can show yourself out." And with that, Damon went back up the stairs, having mixed feelings but knowing that what he had done was one of the best things he had ever came up with to protect the woman he loved.

Now, all he had to do was go to his fiancée' and hold her, tell her he loved her and get her the hell out of this house. He would never let go of her again. And they would never look back at Mystic Falls.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm back :) Hope that wasn't too long of a wait! I'm a little iffy about this chapter because it's kind of graphic and Damon's kinda OOC but Hey, after what Stefan did to Elena... <strong>

**Thanks Amy(LiveBreatheVampire), you never fail to make everything amazing :)**

**Me and her have a current co-story, what lies beneath, if you're interested and haven't read it yet! It's a spin off Beauty and the beast with our own Vampire Delena twist :) We're having a hell of a time writing it and we love it!**

**Thanks for the reviews everybody, they mean SO much!**


	25. Moving onto a better place

**Instant Attraction**

**Final chapter: Chapter 25**

_Moving onto a better place_

* * *

><p>Come on Elena." Damon barged into her room. "Pack your belongings. We are leaving."<p>

"Where are we going?" She sat up, looking at him curiously. She was confused by his sudden outburst-Damon usually gave her further notice when he took decisions.

"Far away from here." He replied, his voice indicating how badly he wanted to go. "Where is your suitcase?"

"Behind my wardrobe." She pointed. He walked over to it very briskly and picked up the leather suitcase. He tossed it onto her bed, beside her and unlatched it.

"Please pack your belongings." He said quietly, moving over to his fiancée and kissing her hair.

She flinched at the contact but relaxed a little as his lips moved from her hair to her forehead. She found comfort in his affection—she had been lacking his touch for weeks. She thought she would fear it but she longed for it and it felt nice. It felt good. Damon wasn't Stefan, and she knew that. She knew that Damon would never hurt her, but who could blame her? She was raped twice. That would haunt her forever.

"Please tell me what is going on, Damon." Elena whispered as she uncovered herself from her sheets, shifted upright and walked over to her wardrobe. She opened it and began rummaging through her dresses, taking them off their racks and placing them in her oversized suitcase as compact as possible. She did not really know what brought this on. Well, actually she did. She knew it had something to do with Stefan. Him, and him alone were reason enough to pack up and leave Mystic Falls for good. Damon's home was here, Damon wanted his father's blessing to marry her. It definitely had to do something with Stefan. Then it clicked: Damon had tried his hardest to protect her—to defend her from his evil brother and he had failed. She understood he could not have helped it; he had no choice but to leave for the war. But she could almost bet all of the gold and silver in the world that he felt guilty and that was primarily the reason they were leaving. Along with the simple fact, neither of them wanted to be around Stefan nor Giuseppe any longer. They were not very happy people. Damon felt like he had failed her, so instead he was taking her with him and make sure they start a new life, together as one: One body, one life. And she was more than ready to experience this new world with him. She wanted to travel the world with her husband by her side, and then have their children and help them grow up.

"I did something tonight, Elena." Damon looked away, the muscles in his jaw tensing.

"What did you do, Damon?" Her expression changed from soft to worried in an instant. That did not sound good at all.

"I did something to my brother." That was not enough clarification for Elena. Surely he knew that.

"To Stefan?" She asked, putting her hand over her mouth. "You didn't murder him did you, Damon?! You will be hung-"

"Elena." He said sternly. "I did not kill Stefan. I wish I had. But no."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness."

"You are happy that he is still living?" Damon asked, a disgusted expression spread across his features. "After all he has done to you?! After how much he has hurt you and me? How much he tried to damage something that is perfection?"

"No, of course not!" She tried to defend herself. "I could never be happy that he is still living. He took the thing that was supposed to be taken by you. But, I am happy you did not do it. You know what would happen if you did something like that, Damon. And I cannot lose you." Her voice was merely a whisper and somewhere in the sentence, their eyes locked onto one another's. "Those weeks you spent at war were like years to me, Damon. I wasn't going to survive...I did because I knew that you'll return. Otherwise I wouldn't have."

His features softened at her words. "You will never lose me." He walked over to her and took the last few dresses she had left to pack from her hands and placed them on the bed. He embraced her for the first time she he had arrived home. He pulled her body to his, wrapping his arms around her extremely fragile body. Her body felt like sticks beneath his. But he pulled her in closer, hugging her and snuggling his head into the crook of her liked it when she clung on to him for dear life. He inhaled the sweet smell of Elena. She always smelled so good. He then began placing kisses on her neck, he felt her body tense beneath his but he kept kissing her—slowly, gently, making sure that none of his advances reminded her of Stefan or hurt her in any way possible. She was too fragile, too breakable, she could be hurt easily. His stomach churned when he, once again, remembered how much it must've hurt. For her first time, she had been raped. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. He was supposed to be the one to take that from her when she was ready. She was supposed to be wined and dined first, then treated with gentleness and care. He shrugged the thoughts off and held her tighter, his lips finding their way up to her chin, her cheeks, her nose, eyes and face and then he found himself staring at her lips; wondering if he should go for it or not.

She noticed him staring at her lips. That was the one place he had yet to kiss her since he had come back to her. She wanted him to but at the same time she feared it. She feared she would re-picture the horrible memories of Stefan, forcing himself on her. She feared that she would feel his rough tongue in her mouth, demanding what she would have never given him. But Elena could not live her entire life in fear of the past. It was taken care of and she needed to move on. She and Damon needed to return to their normal lives, it may take a while but this was the first step. "Kiss me." She whispered.

Damon smiled and leaned in, closing the distance between their mouths. Every kiss was like the first—perfect. She always felt the butterflies and he always received goose bumps from her touch. Like now, he received them when she nestled her hands into his black curly locks. Her fingers caressed the back of his head. He forgot how good it felt to be touched by her. It felt like home. No, it felt like heaven, it felt safe and warm.

It wasn't as bad as she had first anticipated. It was easy to steer away from the thoughts of Stefan when this was Damon. Damon was safe, he was different. He was her soul mate and she trusted herself entirely with him. Damon loved her and cared about her. When she finally realized that, she loosened up and enjoyed the kiss like she always had. The feeling of need and desire for him had risen again but she could not progress that much that quickly. She knew for a fact that she was not ready for that yet. When the time was right, she would make love to him again. And when she did, he would really know her feelings toward him. But until then, she would kiss him senselessly in search for herself once more. She needed to find her normal in him. And she was beginning to do just that. She found her peace in him, and in return he found warmth and love. He knew that he would do anything for this woman and make sure that no one hurts her.

When they finally broke apart, she wanted more—they both did. But both also knew that they could not go any further, not right now. So they simply smiled and Elena told Damon she loved him. That was enough, just knowing that they are safe and sound in the company of the other.

"I love you." He kissed her cheek, rubbing it against hers. "Forever."

"I hate to ruin the moment." She sighed. "But what did you do to Stefan that was so horrible? Surely it cannot be that bad."

"Oh it is." Damon frowned. "I could almost hate myself for doing it to him but I remember what he did to you and I think that it wasn't enough. Nothing would've been enough. Not even death."

"Please tell me." She urged him.

"You know what?" He wrinkled his nose. "It does not even matter. I roughed him up pretty badly but it is no big deal. We won't be seeing him for a while."

"You had me worried." Elena told him. "For a moment, I thought you did something really terrible."

"As much as I wanted to, no." He hated to lie to her but he did not want her to find out the truth. She would think of him as demented, masochistic. She would think that he was becoming violent like his brother. He couldn't have her thinking of him that way. He did it for her. Stefan deserved it. He deserved worse, so maybe he wasn't even lying when he said that it wasn't terrible. But from Elena's eyes, he realized just how bad it would actually be to find out that your fiancé cut off his brother's testicles with a knife. That was twisted and he didn't even like thinking about it when it was bluntly put like that. But the reality of it was, he did it for Elena and all the times she had been hurt. He didn't know if she would ever fully recover from the entire amount of trauma that was inflicted on her but he would at least be able to sleep better at night knowing he did something about it. It would never erase it, but it helped ease his conscience. He would fall asleep knowing that his brother would never go after his fiancé again.

"When are we leaving? She digressed back onto the subject.

"As soon as you finish packing." He told her. "I just have to throw my belongings into my suitcase and I have to go and talk to Giuseppe and then we're leaving."

"You are telling your father?" Elena asked surprisingly. She knew that they did not get along therefore he would not take hers and Damon's sudden departure too lightly. She also began to think about the custody arrangement of her under his care. Technically, she was not supposed to leave. It was all up to him but then again, she was eighteen so lawfully, she could do just as she pleased.

"I have to." Damon shrugged. "I do not wish to however, it is necessary if we want to make this plan work. He has money—funds lined up for me for the future. I am telling them I am taking them. I need to; it is the only possible way we could survive on our own. It is going to take us a while to get on our feet. We need a place to stay, food, transportation."

"I forgot to think about that." Elena admitted frowning slightly.

"Fear not." Damon smirked. "I have everything sorted out in preparation. We'll have a nice home, Elena, and we can start fresh. I promise you that,"

"So we are really leaving." She whispered more so to herself than to Damon. She had only resided roughly a year in Mystic Falls but she had grown to really care for the town and some of the people in it. Like Caroline. She was so lively and caring and sweet and she always spoke her mind. She was a true friend to Elena and she really had appreciated that. Had she not lived so far away when everything went down with Stefan, she probably would have resided at Caroline's for the time being until Damon returned. But with the Salvatore's living on the outskirts of town, it would have been hard for Elena to get a ride into town. She thought about Caroline and the few times they had shared together. She was going to miss her friend but it was for the best and Caroline would understand that if she knew the story. Elena needed this. Damon needed this, they needed to get away. Nobody would and Elena would hold everything that has happened to them in their hearts and try to forget. They wouldn't grow old thinking that they left Mystic Falls because they were practically 'forced' to.

"We" Kiss. "Are" Kiss "Really" Kiss "Leaving." Kiss. He smiled from ear to ear. He was so happy to say those words. "You and I are going to start an amazing life together, Elena."

* * *

><p>"Come in." Giuseppe Salvatore's stern voice called out from behind the barely closed door. Damon pushed it the remainder of the way and walked right into his father's study, standing in front of him at his desk. "What do you want? I am quite busy."<p>

"Oh fear not, father." Damon smirked. "This will not take up much of your time and luckily for you after this, I will no longer ever take up any of your time."

Giuseppe stopped doing what he was doing, placed his quill on the wooden desk and looked up at his son with an estranged expression. "What are you talking about, boy?"

"I am leaving."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Damon sneered. "Me and Elena are leaving, the both of us. I am sick and I am tired. I am sick and tired of this dysfunctional family. I am tired of protecting our family name and your money. You can have everything. I don't want any of this. I have my own life."

"You have nowhere to go." The latter snorted. "You have no money."

"That is where you are wrong." Damon pointed out, winking at his 'father'. I have talked to the people at the bank. Do you remember that fund that you had set up for me quite some time ago? The one that was supposed to get me 'on my feet'" He quoted. "—You know, prepare me for my life in the Salvatore business? Well, I am taking that money for me and Elena and according to them, there is nothing you can do to stop me. My priority will always be Elena."

"I beg to diff—"

"Save it." Damon held up his hand. "I have already made sure that you cannot take it away from me. My name is on it, it is set in stone. It belongs to me therefore you have no right and no ability to even so much as see that money."

"It seems you have been planning this quite some time." The old man hissed. "How dare you do this after all I have done and sacrificed for you."

"Excuse me?" Damon was taken aback and now it was his time to question the great, almighty Giuseppe. "What have you ever done for me? What have you ever sacrificed for me?"

"I have taught you to be the person you are meant to be."

"You have taught me to be nothing!" Damon roared back. "You treat me as if I am property and not your son. You have been doing it your whole life. All I am to you is an heir."

"Why do you think your mother and I had children in the first place?" He retorted. "I needed somebody to carry on the family business when I passed on."

"Yeah?" Damon hissed. "Well now you have your golden boy for that, you fucking bastard."

"Damon, don't you dare speak to your father like that."

"Go to hell!" He yelled and walked out of the study, slamming the door and leaning up against it on the other side. He took a deep breath and collected himself. To be honest, he felt a hell of a lot better saying what he had been meaning to say. He may not have said everything he had wanted but he had gotten most of it off his chest and that was what mattered most. To hell with Giuseppe Salvatore and Stefan Salvatore. He could do without those two men for the rest of his life and so he would. He could conquer anything with Elena by his side. She was the reason he had become so brave. She had made him see clearly through all of the disbelief and fog. She was his savoir And now, finally, he was going to fulfil his dream-Marrying Elena and having his own life, the one that wasn't controlled by his father. He had always kept back to try and not spoil the family name, but since his beloved woman was raped and since Giuseppe didn't think twice about sending his so called heir to war, Damon had been motivated to do what's best for him and Elena. And right at that moment, that was what it was best.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you have everything?" Damon asked her as they sat in the cart, taking one last look at the house.<p>

"I have everything that matters" Elena answered, hugging into her fiancé and snuggling into his warmth.

Neither of them could still believe they were actually leaving Mystic Falls and moving on with their life. Damon had lived there his entire life and he couldn't believe that he was actually going through with this. He had always imagined marrying and living near the Salvatore Estate in Mystic Falls. It was only when the carriage started to move that reality sank in.

"It is too late to turn back now." He told her.

"I do not want to turn back." She whispered. "I have you, forever and a new life to look forward to. I am very happy."

"As am I." He kissed her forehead two times. "As am I."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: First, I want to thank my beautiful friend and Beta, Amy for all the work she's done with this story for me. And I'd like to thank each and every one of you for sticking along to this almost year long journey. It has been amazing and I really enjoyed writing this. I'm very sad to see it end but there will be one more chapter which is the epilogue. So technically this story is not completely over ;)<strong>

**My dreams to hit 400 reviews before the epilogue, that's 20 something reviews (not sure to be exact how much) and I would love if you guys could help me reach my goal even if you have been reading this the entire time and never reviewed a word, just say hi if you want to. **

**Much love, xoxo**


	26. Authors note

Hey everyone.

Sorry, this is NOT an update. I just wanted to apologise for not having this story finished sooner! December and most of November was so hectic I didn't have time to even open my laptop let alone write a full chapter.

I'll have this story finished before I return back to school, which is on January 3rd. Again, sorry for the massive wait!

I hope you all had a fantastic and Merry Christmas :)


	27. Epilogue

**Instant Attraction**

**Epilogue**

* * *

><p>Somewhere far from Mystic Falls just east of Georgia was where Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore continued their life. They had adjusted to life away from their natural home pretty quickly and as quick as Mystics Falls got left behind so did the horrible memories.<p>

But they did not mean instantly. It had taken Elena almost four months to open up to him the way she had first and it had been difficult for her. Damon was nothing except compassionate and supportive. He knew that the torture she had been through was not something she could handle lightly. These months had been rough for them both but Damon had been patient and allowed her all of the time and space that she needed to come back to him and one night she finally had.

* * *

><p><em>Damon was in the study of his new home-their new home when he heard a low knock come from the other side of the door. He smiled to himself. Elena probably had another delicious meal cooked for him and he was not complaining. Since they had moved in, she had been channeling herself to cooking-which Damon had started her off by teaching her the basics and she had caught on pretty fast. Before he knew it, she was cooking three home cooked meals everyday to perfection. Everything about her was perfect, he thought. But these little things they shared in their married life filled him with peace and hope.<em>

_But besides cooking and baking, she spent her time tidying away the house. Damon would arrive home from work at his new job, as an accountant and he would hear Elena quieting singing to herself from the other room and he would know, she was cleaning. Every day he'd walk up behind her secretively and hug her from behind before showering her with kisses. It had become a routine, and Damon started to realize that he needed her like he needed air to breathe. She was his soul mate, his other half. Without her, he was dead, he was nothing. She lit him up, she made him feel alive. He would never do anything to hurt this woman. And when he came home from work everyday and he kissed her lips and face sweetly, he would realize that this was his future-Elena. When he kissed her, however, he would never leave her face, because he knew she would not be comfortable with that and he respected her wishes and he would continue to do so until she initiated anything further. After all, being with Elena wasn't about sex, it was about love and compassion._

_But when Elena had walked in, there was no food in here hands. She was wearing her white, fluffy cotton robe. She looked as if she had just finished taking a bath. Her perfect hair clung to her face, still damp, and she looked like a goddess._

_"Hi." She whispered to her fiancé, moving toward him to massage his shoulders._

_"Hi." He greeted back, curious as to what she wanted._

_"How is your working coming along?" She asked him quietly, glancing at the papers on the table._

_"I just finished." He answered. "I was about to come and find you."_

_"But it looks like I got to you first." She whispered in his ear, sending shivers over his body. She placed a kiss on the top of his head and he felt her smile._

_"It would seem that way."_

_She leaned in again, giving him a single kiss on the cheek. She smiled at him to see his reaction and she kissed him again, moving further down his jaw until she was kissing his neck._

_"What are you doing Elena?" He asked her, aroused but also confused. She hadn't done anything like this to him since before her incident. Could this mean that she was ready? That she wanted to give herself to him once more?_

_"I want you, Damon." She made eye contact with him and searched his features for his answer. "I'm finally ready and I want you. I missed you so much."_

_"I missed you too." He breathed, before smothering his lips with her own and putting her atop of his lap and kissing her senselessly, everywhere._

_Damon hankered the idea of touching Elena's skin- he so desperately wanted to rub his hands all over her silky flesh but he restrained himself. He knew the idea of being close and intimate with him still perturbed her and that was the main reason he kept to himself. He waited for her for a long time and what seemed like a memory from long ago was finally repeating itself. He missed it so much. But he wanted her to be the one who started this. He didn't want to scare or hurt her in anyway._

_When he got brave and graciously kissed her neck, she opened her eyes for a mere moment and noticed where they were- in their study. "Come." She said and pulled him out of the room. She guided them to their bedroom, her fingers entwined with his and seductively pushed him down on the massive bed, and climbed on top of him, smiling warmly at him._

_The wall were cream-colored with all mahogany furniture. There was a large king size bed with four large wooden pillars on each corner. There were intricate designs throughout the wood and accompanied with it was a matching bedspread that was also cream-colored with off white pillows down-filled with feathers. The bed was like sleeping in heaven and the moment they laid on it, it both crossed their minds how great it would be for making love._

_Thankfully, the chestnut colored drapes were closed, they didn't need to worry about anybody seeing them._

_Slow and steady wins the race- or so the motto goes. Elena and Damon took their time removing one another's clothes although all it took was the flick of Damon's risk to undo Elena's soft robe. It was more like she savoured removing his clothes. She made sure to plant kisses and each and every spot that was bare until nothing remained covering his perfect body. Damon had regained his confidence with Elena and was now hovering over her, wondering what the hell changed her mind to finally want him-like this. "Are you sure you want this?" He asked her, stroking her face lovingly. "You know that I would never force you to do anything. We don't have to do anything if you are not sure..."_

_"Yes." She nodded quickly as if she had been awaiting his question. "Are you?"_

_"Of course." He smiled down at her. "I've always waned this, Elena."_

_"I'm sorry I needed so much time." She confessed, looking away because she knew how hard it had to have been for him. He was a grown man and a grown man required needs. Needs that his lady should fulfil whenever he so desires. That was how it went. Men had control, her father had control over her mother. He rarely used it to overpower her but he was still the alpha. That was just how it was. All men were above women. Hell, a man could throw his wife in jail if she denied him sex. But Damon never did any of those things. He never made her feel like she was inferior to him in any way. And Elena loved Damon so much more for offering her the time and space she needed. If it were anybody else that she were due to be wed to, they would give her a few days, maybe a week and they would then want her for their own satisfaction. Damon wasn't like that, he never had been. Elena had seen right though him from the very beginning that he would treat her equal as he. "I know you have... urges."_

_Damon shook his head at her. "Nonsense, Elena. Please stop thinking such ways. It would kill me to know you were doing something just to please me and not yourself as well. We are lovers, Elena, and love is beyond that. It would have killed you, not for real but it would be just as well. You would have hated me if I had forced you into anything too soon. I know you would not have been able to deal with it. I am fine. As long as I still had your love, that alone sustained me. Your love is all I need. Nothing more. The intimateness is just a bonus that I love, I'll admit but it is not one hundred percent necessary. What I want is us to be happy together, for forever. That's what matters"_

_"This is why I agreed to marry you." She beamed. "You have a heart so pure. You put others before yourself without regret. You have a huge heart, Damon. I hope you know that." He watched as her eyes glistened as she spoke about him. He could see it in her eyes she was ready and she was profoundly devoted to him. So much emotion came though with her words that he wanted to tear up right then and there. But instead he smiled at her heart-filled words. How could he have found something so perfect? He was sure that he didn't deserve her, but Elena seemed to think otherwise. Nowadays he realized that she was right-He deserved her, and she deserved him._  
><em>"My heart is pure for you." He whispered, moving his hands down over her perfect curves before settling his member gently between her womanly folds. He could feel just how ready she was for him and it was now that he realized that she too, missed this just as much as he had. She just hadn't been ready. She was extremely moist for him and with one more weary glance and an encouraging smile, he entered her, completely filling her with all of him.<em>

_It was easy to notice it had been a while. She was no longer use to him or his size and he eased in and out of her slowly as she adjusted to his penis. Her moans were the sounds of euphoria to him, complete and utter bliss. No other moment could feel better than this except for the moment where she agreed to be his wife. "I love you so much, Elena." He panted, kissing her._

_"I love you more." She moaned in ecstasy, on the verge of her climax. It had been so long that every penetration sent her closer and closer to her edge. "I'm so close."_

_"Me too." He agreed, no longer being able to endure the pleasure as long either._

_"Let us go together." Her words drove him mad and almost sent him over the edge right then and there but he wanted to wait for her, to watch her come undone around him while he came undone inside of her. He nodded very happily before she began to pick up the pace._

_"So... close." She cried. Her moans became louder and quicker and Damon knew that if she didn't come soon that he would lose it without her. He could release at any moment. Literally. "Ahhh!" She cried, abruptedly stopping her movements and she held onto his body for dear life. This was the moment. She convulsed uncontrolably and her folds tightened around his. He released, moaning Elena's name. His seed shot into her fast. It felt so warm as it entered her body. Sweat poured down their faces and their breathing only began to slow._

_She collapsed ontop of him. "You are amazing."_

_"Not half as amazing as you." He retorted, kissing her head._

* * *

><p>Damon was sat in the exact same place where she had initiated sex between them for the first time in a long time. He was doing the exact same thing only today, it was his day off. The room looked the same only it held one slight difference. A photo of them. She was in her stunning wedding dress and he was in a jet black tuxedo that matched the color of his hair perfectly. He smiled to himself as he remembered the absolute best moment of his life which was watching Elena walk towards him down the aisle. That moment would be forever imprinted in his memory. Normally he would have hated to admit, but under these circumstances he was proud to admit that when he saw her walking towards him, a tear had escaped his eye. It still does whenever he saw their photographs. Elena was smiling in each one of them, a true, genuine smile, and he felt proud that he was the one making her smile. She deserved it after everything she had been through.<p>

And by now she too, was occupied. She was actually out there practicing by making him some delicious concoction for dinner.

* * *

><p><em>"Are you sure I look okay?" Elena asked uneasily, glancing in the mirrow yet again trying to see if anything at all was out of place.<br>"I told you a million times." The bubbily voice moaned. "You look amazing." Elena was so glad Caroline travelled all the way out here for their wedding. She had sent invitations to her, Tyler, and a few other of their friends. They didn't have many but the ones they did have-they loved with all of their hearts. Caroline was her maid of honour and Tyler was standing as well, but the best man position belonged to Alaric, as promised. Jenna-leigh was her one and only bridesmaid but she wouldn't have it any other way. To Elena, Jenna-leigh was more than a friend, she was a dear sister she always dreamt of having, and making her a bridesmaid was the least thing she could do for her._

_Elena had to admit, she did look beautiful today. Elena looked down at the dress she had fallen in love with instantly and lightly grazed her fingers over the fabric and smiled. Delicately beaded romantic lace covered the sweetheart bodice and extended to the three quarter length sheer sleeves. Box pleats in the front and back gave fullness to the skirt and chapel length train. The waist was accentuated by a beautiful satin tie and bow decorated with an amazing sparkly brooch. Satin buttons in contrasting color decorated the bodice of perfection that was called her wedding dress._

_"I see how much you admire your dress." Caroline noted happily. "If I ever get married, I hope I find something as beautiful as this."_

_"Caroline, if you ever get married-which you will... you can have this dress if you like."_

_Her blonde friend's eyes' opened fully and her jaw dropped. "For real?"_

_Elena nodded causing Caroline to engulf her in a large bear-hug which almost cut of her oxygen supply._

_"Care... hard to... breathe." Her friend caught on and let her go, apologizing three or four times, and then she smiled. "Sorry, didn't mean to suffocate you on your wedding day."_

_Elena chuckled._

_"Are you sure? I couldn't possibly... but it's so beautiful..." Caroline babbled on and Elena had no choice but to interrupt her nonsense._

_"Don't be so silly." Elena brushed off. "It's the least I can for all the help you have gave me and Damon. Attending this wedding alone is a reason all in itself."_

_"You were there for me, Elena." Caroline admitted quietly. "Even though we were strangers, you opened up to me and I opened up to you. I feel like I've known you my entire life and ever since you left home-I mean Mystic Falls, I miss you deeply. I miss our talks. I miss everything about you."_

_A single tear rolled down Elena's cheek at her friends words. She had never been so close to another lady before, except Jenna-leigh, and it was really heartwarming and life changing for her. She finally belonged. She had her own family and friends to surround her. They picked her up when she most needed it and when her life turned to hell... she had somebody to guide her back to reality. And although it was mostly Damon, Caroline being here now, released her even more from her unforgettable past._

_"Hey!" Caroline pointed. "Stop those tears this instant missy! You are going to ruin my hard work!"_

_Elena laughed, wiping away the single tears with her thumb. "Sorry."_

_Caroline crossed her arms but smiled. "Apology accepted."_

_They shared a couple moments of silence before they heard a low knock on the door and then Alaric poked his head through._  
><em>"You look stunning, Elena!" Damon's best friend exclaimed and it meant more to her to hear him say that then anybody else would be able to believe.<em>

_"Thank you." She blushed, unable to hide it. She was still uneasy in the presence of men, but Alaric had never done or said anything that made her uncomfortable._

_"It's time to get you married! Are you ready?"_

_"I was born to marry him, Ric." Elena declared, calling him by her fiancé's nickname for the first time. He was going to walk her down the aisle and they had grown to know each other over the last week or so. It was only fair she treated him that way._

_"As was he." He reminded her before offering her his arm to which she accepted primitively._

* * *

><p><em>The traditional music sang throughout the tiny church as Elena walked down the red aisle, looking at her feet and concentrating on her walking and her breathing. Her heart was beating out of her chest. It was really happening. She was marrying the man of her dreams. She had survived to live this day.<em>

_Damon stood there, next to Tyler as he waited for Alaric to escort his fiancee to him so he could take the place of his best man. When his eyes landed on her, he could have sworn that his heart missed a beat. Cheesy, he knew but he could have sworn it on his life. She screamed perfection. She screamed beauty-in every way possible._

_He took in the stunning dress that hugged her body. He noted the way her hair fell in long_

_voluminous curls. But the feature that stood out the most to him was her smile that never left. She locked eyes with him the moment she looked up from her feet, to which he guessed she was trying to prevent herself from falling. But when she looked up, neither of them could look away and he was glad he got the chance to examine her when he did._

* * *

><p>That was the best moment of his life right then and there, knowing she was moments away from being his forever.<p>

* * *

><p><em>"I, Damon Salvatore, take you, Elena Gilbert, to be my lawfully wedded wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner, and my love. from this day forward till death do us part."<em>

_"And I, Elena Gilbert. Take you, Damon Salvatore, to be my lawfully wedded husband, my constant friend, my faithful partner, and my love from this day forward till death do us part."_

_"By the power vested in me, God and this church; I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."_

* * *

><p>Damon wouldn't be able to tell just how long he had been sat in his study, reliving their wedding day simply staring at their picture but it had been long enough for somebody to enter the house and leave again without him knowing. Then his thoughts flashed back to the awkward day when he had accidentally walked in on Elena in the first few days she arrived in the house. He smiled realizing how much things changed since then...<p>

* * *

><p><em>"Good evening Elena. How was your d-"Damon's cheerful greeting and quickly halted as he laid his eyes upon the women in front of him. Her dress was completely undone nearly revealing her breasts. Damon's breath hitched in his throat and he turned his head away as quickly as he could. "Elena. I'm so sorry."<em>

_Elena eyes fluttered open realizing she had let him in while she was partially nude. He hands quickly flew to her chest holding the dress up with one hand and trying to tie the corset back up with the other. It was no use, that task was barely managing with two hands let alone one. "Don't be. I feel so embarrassed." She was glad he was turned away. Her cheeks turned from ivory to rose pink within seconds. "I hate to put you in an uncomfortable position; but I was aiming to get out of this stuffy dress but seeing you are here I will wait. Would you mind tying me up? Mother always did this for me and I have a rather hard time trying to do it myself." She chuckled quietly._

_Damon still did not turn to face her. "Yeah, s-sure." He stuttered. He had never been in a female's room before in his life; making this even more uncomfortable as he made his way up behind her grabbing the strings of her dress, tying them as gently as he could; trying not to hurt her. He had suddenly imagined what she looked like underneath that dress. Damon He warned himself. Why did he keep thinking awful thoughts about her? He had never thought of women like that before. Really, he had never thought about any female before._

* * *

><p>He smiled again. Of course he hadn't thought that way about any female before...Because Elena was his soulmate. Always had been and always will be.<p>

He had been knocked out of his thoughts when the door closed for the last time. He decided to go out to the kitchen and find out who stopped by.

He found his wife-God he loved calling her that-sat down in the rocking chair, smiling to herself and looking out the window.  
>"Who was here?" Damon asked, startling her.<p>

"You wouldn't know her." She whispered, standing on her feet and making her way over to her husband. She latched onto his two hands and gripped them tightly. "I was unsure until now."

He was confused. "Unsure about what?"

"Why I have certain symptoms."

"I didn't want to worry you so I left it for a while but the symptoms grew more and more and I started feeling sick and nauseous but only in the morning and then it clicked. I'm pregnant, Damon!" She exclaimed hugging him and kissing him. "We are having a baby!"

* * *

><p><strong>THE END<strong>

* * *

><p><em><strong>Everybody who followed me along this journey, I thank you so much for sticking with me through hard times like these when I haven't updated for over a month. I didn't know how to end this story, I wanted it to be perfect but I am happy with the outcome. <strong>_

_**My beta and friend, Amy is the reason I've done so well with this story. I wouldn't be able to do this without her, she's amazing and she's also my co-partner in a story that wasn't started too long ago. If you're interested, you can always check it out! **_

_**I've received more love and support than I had ever hoped for when I wrote chapter one of this story. I couldn't and still can't believe it. And I thank you all from the bottom of my heart! **_

_**So with the ending of this story, leave me one last review. Suppose you've followed me from day 1 and haven't left a review yet and tell me what you thought of the epilogue. **_

_**Love you all, **_

_**Courtney. **_

_**xoxo **_


End file.
